NEW DELHI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people were killed and many others injured Monday in a head-on collision between a bus and a gravel-laden dumper truck in the southern Indian state of Telangana, police said.
The accident took place on the highway near Mirzaguda in Chevella of Rangareddy district, about 58 km west of Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana.
"This morning, a gravel-laden truck collided with a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus near Mirzaguda village in Chevella on the Hyderabad-Bijapur national highway, killing 20 people and injuring many others, some of them seriously," a police official said.
The deceased include truck and bus drivers and a three-month-old girl.
Senior police official Mahesh Bhagwat told the media that there were 72 people inside the bus at the time of the crash.
"There was a head-on collision. It seems that the tipper was travelling at a very high speed and it rammed into the bus," Bhagwat said. "As per the conductor's statement, there were around 72 people on the bus, and we are verifying it."
According to police, the collision was so severe that the front section of the bus was completely crushed, and tons of gravel fell over it, trapping several passengers inside and killing them on the spot.
Immediately after the accident, police and rescue teams rushed to the spot and launched massive relief operations using three earthmovers to clear the debris and pull out survivors.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the deaths in the accident and extended condolences to the families of the victims.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads, and reckless driving. Enditem
京公网安备 11010802027341号