At least 15 people were killed and several others were injured when Telangana State road transport corporation bus was hit by a truck in Nalgonda district.
Police said the bus going from Bhongir to Nalgonda was hit by a truck from Haryana at Indirapalanagaram village near Ramannapet on Wednesday afternoon.
The impact of the hit was so powerful that the entire right side of the bus was smashed killing the driver and 14 other passengers of the bus. Police said that the truck coming from the opposite side was over speeding and the driver had lost control over the vehicle. The injured were rushed to the Government hospital at Ramannapet.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Reddy expressing his deep shock over the accident announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of each deceased. While Rs 1,00,000 will be paid by the Telangana RTC, the State Government will pay equal amount. Chief Minister also ordered free medical care for all the injured passengers. State Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy and two other Ministers also rushed to the scene of the accident to oversee the relief measures.
A pall of gloom descended on Ramannapet and the surrounding village as most of the victims hailed from this area. The local people who had gathered at the scene of the accident helped in evacuating the injured passengers from the bus and rushing them to the hospital. Some of the bodies were stuck in the wreckage of the bus and the emergency relief teams removed them and shifted them to the hospital at Ramannapet.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu also expressed his deep shock over the incident and conveyed condolences to the families of the victims.