A ghastly road accident claimed the lives of seven people, including that of two women, in Tanakallu of Anantapaur in Andhra Pradesh. The mishap took place around 7.30 am on Friday when a mini bus and a truck collided near Parakuvandlapalli village on National Highway 42. While the truck was headed towards Madanaplle, the mini bus was headed to Kadiri.

While six people died on the spot, one person died as he was being taken to the local hospital for treatment. Nine others were severely injured and are being treated at the government hospital in Kadiri. All of them were travelling on the mini bus to Kadiri.

According to police officials who spoke to TNM, the accident could have happened due to overspeeding by both the vehicles. A case has been registered with the Nallacheruvu police which falls under the Kadiri Rural police jurisdiction, and investigation is underway.

Speaking to TNM, Kadiri Rural Inspector Reddappa said, “It looks like both the vehicles were overspeeding, as the collision happened at a high speed and resulted in seven deaths.”

However, a thorough investigation is needed to conclude the reasons behind the mishap, police officials said.

According to Nallacheruvu Sub Inspector Ramesh Babu, “Besides overspeeding, the drivers of both vehicles failed to take precautionary measures.” According to the SI, all the deceased were from neighbouring villages.

The police have identified six of the deceased as Mohammed Basha (48), Khader Bhasha (43), Ramachandra Reddy (58), Siva Nagesh (29), Jayamma (48) and Bharatamma (42). The other person is aged between 45-50 and his name is yet to be announced.

Police said that all of them are belonged to Nallacheruvu, Tanakallu, V Kokkanti and LP Kunta villages. The bodies were handed over to family members following a post-mortem.

The police haven’t made any arrests so far, as the both drivers are absconding.