At least 14 people on a pilgrimage tour to Ajmer in Rajasthan were killed in a road accident after their bus collided with a truck in Andhra Pradesh. The accident took place on a national highway near a village in Veldurti Mandal of Kurnool district on Sunday morning.
According to officials, the pilgrims’ minibus hit a road divider at high speed, overturned and hit a speeding truck coming from the other direction. Most of those killed were crushed under the truck.
“There were 18 people in the vehicle at the time of the accident. The accident took place around 4 am at Veldurti Mandal, near Madapuram, about 25 km from Kurnool,” the Kurnool police chief K Fakirappa was quoted by NDTV.
The pilgrims were travelling from Madanapalle in Chittoor district to Ajmer in Rajasthan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the road accident in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district was saddening. “In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. I hope that the injured recover at the earliest,” a statement by the PMO read.
TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, ‘Pained to learn about the gruesome accident that took place in Veldurthi Mandal of Kurnool District. My heart goes out to the 14 families who have lost their loved ones. I wish speedy recovery to those injured.”
