Telangana bus accident: Death toll rises to 20 after truck rams into RTC bus in Rangareddy

Mangled remains of a tipper lorry and a public transport bus after their collision, in Ranga Reddy district, Telangana. (Pic/PTI)

In an extremely unfortunate incident during the early hours of Monday, twenty people were killed and several others were severely injured in a collision between an RTC bus and a truck in Telangana's Rangareddy district.

As reported by news agency IANS, the accident occurred at around 6.30 a.m. on the Hyderabad-Bijapur highway near Mirzaguda in Chevella mandal, about 60 km from Hyderabad.

As reported by the news agencies, the bus was moving to Hyderabad from Tandur and was unfortunately hit by a concrete-laden tipper truck coming from the opposite direction.

According to one of the eyewitnesses present at the spot, "Passengers sitting in the first six rows were crushed and buried under the gravel as the tipper lorry pierced through the bus. The entire gravel load fell in the bus, adding to the intensity of the crash," as cited by news agency IANS.

Among the 20 deceased people, eighteen passengers of the bus, including 10 women, died in the collision. The victims also included drivers of both the bus and the truck. Also, a 10-month-old baby and her mother were among those dead in the incident.

As reported by the news agency IANS, there were about 70 passengers aboard the bus, which belonged to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Several passengers were injured, and they were shifted to the government hospital at Chevella, where the condition of three of them is stated to be critical.

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed as several injured people trapped in the rubble were crying for help.

While the incident shook everyone, the police and other rescue personnel had a tough time pulling out the injured. As reported by news agency IANS, three JCBs were pressed into service to cut through the bus to retrieve the bodies and rescue the injured.

One of the survivors from this unfortunate incident said that, "The bus started from Tandu at 5 a.m. and was full to its capacity by the time it reached Vikarabad. Several passengers were standing," as cited by news agency IANS.

The survivor further added that, "A speeding tipper truck coming from the opposite direction rammed into the bus. The driver and the passengers sitting in six rows behind me were crushed to death," as cited by news agency IANS.

Amid the unfortunate incident, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has expressed grief over the road accident. The Chief Minister has directed the officials to reach the accident site and undertake relief measures immediately.

(With inputs from IANS)