KHAMMAM: Ten passengers including two women died in a tragic mishap when a private bus plunged into the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) left bank canal near Nayakangudem village in Khammam district on Monday morning.
As many as nine passengers died instantaneously while another succumbed while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Khammam. Eighteen injured persons were shifted to various hospitals. The bus driver, Kishore, escaped from the spot. He reportedly tried to avoid hitting passengers of another bus that had stopped on the road side following a minor accident and plunged into the canal. Minutes before the ghastly mishap, another bus had hit the railing of the NSP bridge and came to a halt.
The mishap took place when the bus belonging to Yatra Genie which was proceeding to Kakinada from Hyderabad with 29 passengers including four crew members crashed into the railing of the bridge and fell into the NSP canal from a height of 30 feet. There was nearly 3 ft deep water in the canal.