VIJAYAWADA: A search is on for five people, while one died out of the seven rescued after the autorickshaw they were travelling was knocked down by a speeding truck and fell into an overflowing Beeraperu rivulet from the bridge close to Sangam town on Thursday night.
The deceased have been identified as K Nagavalli (14) who succumbed while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Sangam.
"We were proceeding to Shivalayam temple in Sangam for a night's stay as part of my father's rituals. A speeding truck heading towards Atmakur tried to overtake another truck. Seeing this, we stopped the auto by the side of the bridge to pave way for the truck. But, it hit our vehicle. My brother and I fell on the bridge and others fell in the rivulet along with the autorickshaw," said Nandu, one of the survivors
Passersby rescued Naga Sai, Naga Bhushanam (auto driver), Lakshmi Devi, Krishna Kumari, Navadeep, Nagavalli, and they were shifted to a hospital in Sangam. Unfortunately, Nagavalli died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
Sampoornamma, Pullaiah, Nagaraju, Ademma, and Padma went missing in the stream. Joint Collector M Harindera Prasad and Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao visited the area and are monitoring the rescue operation.
'Rescue operations are in full swing to trace the missing persons in the overflowing Beeraperu stream. We along with coast guard staff are searching for the missing persons since Thursday late night. The driver of the truck would be apprehended soon and will be booked under relevant sections,' said the Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao.
Officials deployed two speed boats and swimmers for the rescue operations. The teams pulled out the auto-rickshaw wreckage from the stream.