Six including two drivers killed in fire when tipper rams into private bus near Chilakaluripet

PARCHUR: In a ghastly incident that occurred near Evuripalem Road near Chilakaluripet six people including two drivers died when a tipper rammed into a private bus owned by Aravind travels around 1.30 am on Wednesday.

Fire erupted immediately after the accident giving no chance to some of the passengers in the bus and the two drivers to escape the fiery fire that engulfed both the vehicles in no time.

According to Parchur police, there were 40 passengers on the bus at the time of the accident. Many of them came to their native villages to cast their votes in the elections on May 13 and were returning to Hyderabad. Most of the passengers embarked on the journey from Chinnaganjam, Gonasapudi and Nilayapalem. The bus that started from Chinaganjam in Bapatla district was supposed to reach Hyderabad via Parchur and Chilakaluripet.

The stone-carrying tipper collided with the bus at high speed. Fire erupted from the tipper and quickly spread to the bus. Many who escaped the fire called 108 and the local police. Ambulances reached the spot from Chilakaluripet, Yaddanapudi, Chirala, and Yedlapadu. They extricated 20 passengers stuck in the bus and sent them to the Government hospital in Chilakaluripet. A fire tender from Chilakaluripet finally doused the fire.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that the sand that spread on the road due to the ongoing work at a by-pass road nearby made the tipper lose control. The Tipper driver apparently couldn’t control the vehicle and rammed into the bus coming in the opposite direction.