HYDERABAD: City expressways once again proved deadly with two accidents on Tuesday, one of them involving fatalities. While former Congress minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy's son was killed in one, three others were hurt in a vehicle pileup. Pratheek Reddy, son of the minister and two of his young friends became the latest victims of the tricky Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Kollur in Medak district. It was only a few months ago that former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin lost his son in a bike mishap on the ORR in Cyberabad.
Tuesday's accident snuffed out three lives while the condition of another, who was in the car and was grievously injured, is said be critical.
Nineteenyearold Pratheek Reddy was studying first year BTech at CBIT in Gandipet. He, along with his classmates Sujeet Kumar, Chandra Reddy and Arohan Reddy, was returning to Hyderabad from his college in his Skoda car (AP 24 AH 9999). According to locals, the youngsters were driving the car at a very high speed on the ORR service road. Minutes after they entered the ORR at the outskirts of Kollur, two sheep strayed across their path, forcing them to swerve.
The driver lost control and smashed the car into the divider. The force made the car do a somersault in the air before crashing on the road. The occupants, including Pratheek, were thrown out of the car due to the impact and three of them died on the spot. It is unclear who was driving the vehicle as the bodies of the victims were scattered outside the car.
Upon receiving information, police rushed to the spot and shifted Arohan Reddy, who suffered severe injuries, to a hospital in Hyderabad. His condition is said to be critical. Based on the car number, police identified Pratheek Reddy and conveyed the news to the former minister's family.
Venkat Reddy, who landed in the city late Tuesday night, reportedly collapsed at the airport and was taken away by his brother, who was accompanying him.
In the meantime, a postmortem was performed on Pratheek Reddy's body, which was then shifted to their house.
Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, Union minister for petroleum S Jaipal Reddy and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu were among those who extended condolences to the bereaved families.
3 Hurt as Taxi Turns Turtle on Expressway
In another mishap, a car somersaulted on the PV Narasimha Rao Express Highway Tuesday night after hitting an electric pole on the median at high speed. The speeding car fell on two other vehicles causing minor injuries to three persons.