HYDERABAD/NALGONDA: A Sunday picnic trip to Nagarjunasagar Dam turned tragic for a family from Hyderabad as six of its members died and four received grievous injuries in a road accident. The mishap is believed to have occurred when the driver of the SUV the victims were travelling in tried manoeuvring the vehicle to avoid hitting a dog on the road, and in the process, lost control and rammed into a bus shelter, on Hyderabad-Nagarjunasagar highway in Nalgonda in wee hours of Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Mohd Asif (5), Mohd Mohin(45), Mohd Mustafa (30), Mohd Abbas (25), Akthar Begum (50) and Asifa Begum (50).
According to Nalgonda police, around 30 persons from three families had started for Nagarajunasagar in three SUVs late Saturday night. While passing through Nasarlapally village at Chintapally, driver of one of the SUVs (AP 28D 5837), Muqeem, lost control over the vehicle and it swerved towards the right side, jumped the divider, and crashed into a bus shelter. The vehicle drifted for around 20 metres before crashing on the opposite side, due to which passengers sitting on the left received fatal injuries while those on the right escaped with injuries.
Was avoiding hitting a dog
On preliminary investigation, police found that the road at the spot was in a good shape and the vehicle was moving at a high speed. It was in order to avoid hitting a dog that driver Muqeem applied brakes, due to which the vehicle skidded and crashed into the bus shelter. “While Asif died on the spot, Mohin, Mustafa and Abbas died on way to hospital. Akthar Begum and Asifa Begum died while undergoing treatment. Four others — Muqeem, Khasim, Noorine Begum and Hasan — are still undergoing treatment,” said R Prabhakar Reddy, Circle Inspector of Nampally police station.
Prabhakar Reddy mentioned overspeeding as the main reason behind the accident. “This is the first major accident in 2018. As a preventive measure, around four spots have already been identified in Nampally circle and the process of fixing stoppers is underway,” the CI added.