Hyderabad: Five people, including the driver of a private bus, died Friday after the vehicle rammed into a parked lorry on the Khammam-Suryapet highway. Eighteen others were injured and shifted to hospital for treatment.
Five of them were later moved to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad owing to grievous injuries.
According to police, the incident took place at Amboju Thanda in Suryapet district around 4 am when the bus was ferrying passengers from Odisha to Hyderabad.
“Enroute the bus hit the lorry parked in the middle of the road from the rear. The bus was travelling at high speed,” said an officer of Suryapet rural police, adding, “The right side of the bus took the maximum impact. The driver’s seat and the five rows behind him were completely damaged.”
“The lorry had a flat tyre. The driver parked it in the middle of the road to repair it. The accident occurred within next 15 minutes. The lorry driver had not turned on the parking lights. There were no reflective stickers on the lorry either,” police said. A criminal case was registered against the lorry driver on charge of negligence causing death.
All the deceased were from Odisha. They were identified as Rupu Hariyan (51), his wife Sula Hariyan (46), Sunamani Hariyan (61), Prathysh Prabath (17), and driver Sunil Gorda (37). All the passengers were labourers who were picked up from various parts of Odisha by the bus operator, police said.
