VIJAYAWADA: Eight people, six different families Chilakalapudi near Machilipatnam, died in a road accident in Solapur in Maharashtra. No less than seventeen people were injured in the accident that occurred at 3:30 am on Tuesday.
A team of 51 members Chilakalapudi had left for eight days a pilgrimage to Shirdi on September 29 in a private bus with registration number AP21X0408. They had darshan of Sai in Shirdi on October 4 and then they went to Pandaripur Monday and then left before midnight. The accident happened on State Road 141 near Solapur Kabidgaon. The bus hit a divider and jumped a culvert.
The deceased have been identified as Chalamalasetty Ranganatha Rao, 60, Jonnalagadda Venkataravamma, 62, Golla Lakshmi, 45, Golla Reshma, 19, Gedela Venkateswaramma, 70, Beeram Seshamani, 72, Nukala Jaganmohan Rao, Krishna Kumari 65 Nukala , 55 Nukala Jaganmohan Rao, was the tour operator.
T. Satyanarayana, circle inspector of police Chilakalapudi said: "The wounded were told Srinivasa Rao Maganti, the driver, was taking a break at the time of the accident and the bus was driven by Ramesh, the cleanest."
SI of Solapur, Shinde, police said, "A case was registered against the driver-cum-owner of the bus. Cleaner is stopped too."
Maharashtra police arranged for five ambulances to carry the bodies to AP. The injured were airlifted to Vijayawada by a special flight organized by the state government.
Nara Chandra Babu Chief Minister Naidu expressed shock and ordered officials to take action to rescue the wounded.
Twenty-nine survivors of the crash Chilakalapudi Solapur village, arrived at Gannavaram airport on Tuesday morning. Emotional scenes were witnessed at the airport as they were reunited with their families.
R. Venkateswarlu, one of the survivors of the terrible accident, said he was awakened by a loud sound. He looked for his son Likhit and rescued by breaking the glass window of the bus. He got off the bus and helped local to rescue other passengers in the rear seats and those trapped in the muddy water.
Another survivor, Sivaramakrishna said it was a second birth for him and his family. He said he still can not believe she's safe. Nageswara Rao from Chilakalapudi arrived at the airport to receive her sister-in-law Vijayakumari, but his brother-in-law Ranganatha Rao died in the accident.
Survivors said a local sub-inspector of Telugu origin helped and escorted to the airport in Solapur. Of the 51 people who were on the pilgrimage, 29 people arrived at Gannavaram airport security, six were hospitalized with serious injuries, eight people were killed, while others accompanied the wounded in Solapur.
Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, minister of wellness classes back Kollu Ravindra said that the chief minister ordered a special flight to carry the survivors to their hometown. The survivors were taken from the Gannavaram airport Chilakalapudi a Volvo bus. Ambika, a girl of 15 years old, traumatized by the accident, listened patiently while his family recounted the harrowing experience.
