15 killed, 16 injured as truck ploughs into crowd in Andhra’s Chittoor

April 22, 2017

Hyderabad, Apr 22: At least 15 people were killed and about 16 injured on Friday when a truck driver lost control and hit an electric pole before ploughing the vehicle into a group of protesters, cars and shops at Yerpedu, about 25 km away from Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

Drunk

While six persons were crushed to death under the truck’s wheels, others died of electrocution and the resultant fire, triggered by the mishap. Initially, about 20 people were feared dead.

The incident happened at around 1:45pm, when a large number of people had gathered in front of the Yerpedu police station located on the Putalapattu-Nayudupeta state highway to stage a dharna to demand action against illegal sand mining in the area.

Police said the truck with heavy load which was travelling at a high speed, lost control and hit an electric pole before crushing several people under its wheels. The truck came to a halt after destroying several vehicles and roadside shops, which were gutted in a fire that broke out in one of the shops due to impact of the accident.

A local reporter of a regional newspaper who was at the police station lost his legs in the accident. The driver and the cleaner absconded after the accident.

Renigunta deputy superintendent of police K S Nanjndappa said six people were crushed under the wheels of the truck, while the remaining 14 died of electric shock with high tension wires falling on them and fire in the shops. Following the accident, traffic movement on the Yerpedu, Srikalahasti, Renigunta and Tirupati routes was affected.

Some of the injured were shifted to Ruia hospital in Tirupati, while few others were moved to hospitals in Chennai and Vellore. The condition of 10 of the injured is said to be critical.

The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock and grief at the loss of lives in the accident in Yerpedu. He directed the district Collector to personally supervise the relief operations.

Meanwhile, tense situation is prevailing near Ruia hospital as relatives of the victims are thronging the hospital and demanding action against the driver.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Behrampur, Jun 7: A migrant labourer spent two days in jungle after allegedly being denied entry to a quarantine centre and his village in Behrampur.

According to a local from the village, no one helped the labourer. "He came from Chennai. He went to the police and block office but no one helped. Then, he went to the jungle."

Later, the police took him to the quarantine centre.

As per the Union Health Ministry, there are 2,608 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Odisha, including 996 active cases, 1,604 recovered/discharged/migrated and 8 deaths.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

Cuttack, Jan 16: At least 15 passengers were injured as five coaches of the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed and three more were displaced after colliding with a goods train amid heavy fog near Cuttack in Odisha on Thursday, railway officials said.

Railway officials had earlier said that 25 passengers were injured in the incident but later officers who reached the site reported that four passengers were found to have suffered major injuries and 11 had received minor injuries.

Passengers with major injuries have been sent to Cuttack Medical College. All passengers are stated to be out of danger.

Officials said the accident happened when the passenger train hit the guard van of a good train around 7 am between Salagaon and Nergundi stations.

The officials said there was heavy fog at the site but it was not clear what led to the accident. The speedometer of both the trains have been seized for inquiry, East Coast Railway Spokesperson J P Mishra said.

Buses have been arranged for all remaining passengers to move towards their destination.

Cuttack is around 10-12 km away and Bhubaneswar(Terminating station) is 35 km.

The accident disrupted train services in the area.

Five trains have been affected due to the accident where restoration work in underway. These include the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai LTT SF Express, the Puri-Rourkela Express, Dhanbad-Bhubaneshwar Rajyarani Express which have all been diverted via Naraj.

"East Coast Railway acknowledges with deep gratitude help of nearby locals and villagers who have displayed great humanitarian values and come to the rescue of injured passengers," Mishra said.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Puducherry,Mar 26: Congress legislator from Kamaraj Nagar constituency John Kumar has been booked on charges of violating lock-down rules, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said on Thursday.

In a Whats app posting she further said that an FIR has been registered under the Disaster management Act.

She stated John Kumar in an irresponsible manner allowed more than 200 people to gather outside his house and distributed doles personally when lock down was enforced in the country.

A criminal case has been registered against him for blatant violation of law despite mass information and media messages.Instead of following the law, he chose to violate it,she further stated.

The LG added that as per the ground report by IGP Surendra Yadav, there was perceptible improvement in enforcement of lock down and public were aware and cooperative.Vehicles carrying essential supplies and personnel were moving and every day is an improvement.

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