At least 19 people, including a 41-day-old girl child, were killed and and 22 others injured when a gravel-laden tipper lorry collided head-on with a government bus in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana on Monday, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the State Government announced ex gratia payments to the families of the victims.
Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who visited the government hospital at Chevella, where the accident victims were admitted, said, “19 people were killed in the accident.”
The lorry collided with the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) vehicle near Chevella, about 50 km from Hyderabad, on Monday morning at around 7 am, resulting in the gravel falling on the bus, burying the passengers and causing deaths due to suffocation and trauma, among others. A district official said 22 people suffered injuries in the accident. The TGSRTC said in a release that the tipper, loaded with gravel and hard stone chips, lost control while overtaking multiple vehicles, veering directly into the path of the oncoming bus. The impact caused extensive damage to the bus, with a large volume of gravel and dust pouring into the passenger compartment.
