At least 13 persons were killed after a bus collided with a truck near Rayavaram in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district on Thursday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.
District Collector P Raja Babu said that 25 of the 41 passengers on the bus were injured, The Hindu reported. They were admitted to a government hospital in Markapuram.
Ten of them suffered severe injuries and five were in critical condition, he added.
The accident occurred at a turn at about 6 am when the private bus collided with the tipper truck loaded with gravel coming from Kanigiri, the newspaper quoted unidentified police officers as saying.
The bus was travelling from Nirmal in Telangana to Vinjamuru in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district.
The collision led to a massive fire that engulfed both the vehicles, The Hindu reported.
In a statement on social media, the chief minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died in the accident. Naidu added that he had spoken to officials about the medical assistance being provided to the injured.
He further expressed concern over reports that the toll was likely to increase.
Naidu also ordered an investigation into the accident, The Hindu reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences and described the accident as tragic.
He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the accident. The injured will receive Rs 50,000.
Since October, there have been at least five major bus accidents in Andhra Pradesh in which at least 35 persons have been killed, according to The Hindu.
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