Nearly 10 passengers of a bus died after the bus plunged into Sagar Project left bank canal near Kusumanchi in Khamam district of Telangana on the wee hours of Monday. Rescue operations are still going on and police are suspecting three more bodies might still be trapped inside the water-filled bus.
The bus was on its way to Hyderabad to Kakinada with 29 passengers. Around 3 am when the bus reached Kusumanchi, the driver lost control over the vehicle and the vehicle fell into 30 feet NSP canal.
The driver of the private bus was apparently driving the vehicle at a very high speed. He lost control over the wheels, as a result the bus on its way to Kakinada from Hyderabad, fell into the canal under Kusumanchi mandal, police said.
Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 3 lakh each to the kin of the 10 deceased.
Some of the victims belonged to East Godavari and some were from West Godavari district of the AP.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the accident and spoke to East Godavari district Collector Arun Kumar over phone to enquire about the incident.
According to Khammam superintendent of police Shah Nawaz Khan, the bus belonging to private operator Yatra Genie, started its journey from Hyderabad at 11.30 pm on Sunday.
Other travellers on the highway quickly informed the police, who rushed to the spot and began rescue operations. Rescuers recovered seven bodies and shifted around 21 others to the Khammam hospital. Of them, three passengers succumbed to injuries. The condition of at least five passengers is said to be critical.
The death toll is likely to increase as a few other passengers are believed trapped inside the bus. The police called for a crane to retrieve the bus from the canal.
Collector DS Lokesh Kumar and other senior officials reached the spot to supervise the rescue operations.
