Bus falls off bridge after collision in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur, 20 injured
Amaravati, Aug 9
At least 20 passengers were injured when a private bus in which they were travelling fell off a bridge after a collision with another vehicle in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district on Sunday.
The accident occurred on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway near Pogarur in Pamidi mandal early in the morning.
According to police, a private bus travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru collided with a vehicle on the bridge. Such was the impact of the collision that both the vehicles fell off the bridge.
Twenty passengers sustained grievous injuries. Police rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation with the help of locals.
Police personnel pulled out the passengers trapped in the bus and shifted them to government hospitals at Pamidi and Anantapur.
A JCB was pressed into service to pull out some of the injured, including the bus driver. The condition of the bus driver is stated to be critical.
The accident led to a huge traffic jam on the national highway. Motorists faced severe hardship due to the traffic jam.
Additional police personnel rushed to the spot and cleared the traffic jam.
Andhra Pradesh is one of the states known for a high number of road accidents. On average, 22 people are losing their lives in road accidents in the state every day.
The state recorded 9,194 accidents from January to June this year, claiming 4,058 lives.
Last year, road accidents in the state claimed 23 lives every day. Though this number has slightly come down this year, the high number of road fatalities remains a cause of concern.
Police say non-compliance with traffic rules and safety norms and negligent driving are the main causes of accidents.
Statistics show two-wheeler riders account for the highest number of fatalities. In the 9,194 accidents reported so far this year, 3,980 two-wheelers were involved. As many as 1,835 (45.21 per cent) of those who died were two-wheeler riders.
The second-highest fatalities (669) were of pedestrians.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Thoughts and prayers for the victims. Having traveled on this highway myself, I know how chaotic the traffic can get. Private bus operators need to be strictly monitored - many drivers over-speed and don't follow basic safety protocols.
The statistics mentioned in this article are heart-breaking. 45% of deaths are two-wheeler riders! We really need stricter lane discipline and more awareness campaigns, especially for bike riders. Also, how can both vehicles fall off the bridge - were the barriers not strong enough? 🤔
This is concerning! Even with all the new highways being built, the number of accidents is still high. Bengaluru-Hyderabad route is one of the busiest but sometimes the road condition is not up to the mark. Also, JCB had to be used to pull out passengers - shows how severe the impact was. Local people who helped should be appreciated.
While I feel for the victims, I also want to point out that private bus drivers often drive recklessly to reach on time. The authorities should install CCTV cameras and speed detectors on all such bridges and national highways. Also, proper crash barriers are needed - this could have been prevented.
It's truly tragic to see such incidents repeatedly. The article rightly mentions that negligence is the main cause. My heart goes out to all those affected. Hope the government takes concrete steps beyond just announcing compensation. Real-time monitoring and better road engineering are desperately needed 🙏
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