GUNTUR: Five persons, including four students died as an APSRTC bus hit an auto at Repudi village in Phirangipuram mandal of Guntur district in the early hours of Thursday. Three other students, who suffered injuries in the mishap, are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Guntur. Eight students of class X of Intel Public School at Perecherla were on their way to school to attend special classes in an auto. Meanwhile, an APSRTC bus coming from the opposite direction hit the auto on Guntur-Narasaraopet State Highway at 6.50 am.
Three students and the auto driver died on the spot, whereas another student died while undergoing treatment in the hospital. The three injured students - P Bhanu, A Sirisha and P Vyshnavi are undergoing treatment in Guntur.
The deceased students are - Alla Renuka (16), Kanubaddi Gayatri (16), Potlapalli Sailaja (15), Karthik Reddy (17) and auto driver Repudi Dhanraj (25). The students and auto driver belong to Vemavaram village in Phirangipuram mandal.Narasaraopet DSP K Nageswara Rao said Srisailam bound APSRTC bus hit the auto when the bus driver tried to overtake another vehicle at Repudi village. The DSP rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to private hospital.