Copyright deccanchronicle
HYDERABAD: Nine people were injured when a private travel bus overturned near the Pedda Amberpet toll plaza on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Abdullapurmet around 12.35 pm on Saturday. The mishap occurred barely a day after another bus caught fire on NH-44 near Kurnool, killing 19 passengers and a biker late on Thursday night. According to investigating officer (IO) P. Madhavrao, the electric passenger bus, operated by Nue GO Travels, was travelling from Miyapur to Guntur with two drivers, a conductor and six passengers on board. The accident occurred when the bus, while taking a turn at a curve on the ORR, hit the central divider, overturned and veered into roadside bushes after crashing through the side railing. Locals and toll plaza staff alerted the police and helped rescue the passengers trapped inside. Visuals from the scene showed the driver’s cabin completely mangled and the rear portion of the bus suffered only minor damage. ORR patrolling personnel later joined the rescue operation. Four injured passengers were shifted to a nearby private hospital in Hayathnagar. They were identified as Shaik Zaheer, 20, Akula Gayatri, 23, Kasthik Subash, 23, and A. Prabhakar, 30 — all are from Andhra Pradesh. The remaining two passengers and the bus staff were first taken to a hospital along the ORR for primary treatment and later moved to Apollo DRDO Hospital, Kanchanbagh. They were identified as Mounica, 26, and Prathusha, 26, both from Guntur; driver Veeraanjaneya Reddy, 63; and alternative driver Srinivas, 35. All the injured are stated to be stable. “The driver could not control the vehicle while taking the turn. He suffered the most injuries, though mostly internal. Tests confirmed he was not under the influence of alcohol,” said the IO. An officer from Abdullapurmet police said the curve where the incident occurred has a history of mishaps. “A lorry accident took place here earlier as well. Drivers often fail to slow down at this stretch. This driver was not overspeeding — he was at 80 kmph — but he may have taken a right instead of a left near the curve,” the official said. “The exact cause will be known after recording the driver’s statement.” Police said the bus had no prior accident record or pending challans, and all vehicle documents were in order. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway. Traffic movement on the ORR remained unaffected.
