VISAKHAPATNAM : The recent accident on NH16 at Vedulapalem junction in Nakkapalle mandal that claimed 11 lives appears as the tip of the iceberg, if the number of accident deaths recorded in the Payakaraopeta-Anakapalle stretch is any indication. The records available with the Yelamanchili traffic police say as many as 780 persons died in accidents in this stretch in the last three years.
The 65-km stretch from Anakapalle to Payakaraopeta remains a death trap.As many as 201 road accidents have been reported from January 1 till date so far that claimed 122 lives, leaving 227 injured.
Last year 333 persons died and 325 persons lost their lives in the previous year. The deaths registered in the first three and half a month this year amounts to 40 per cent of the loss of lives reported in 2015 and 2014.
The Sunday accident was the second major road mishap on this stretch this year. In the first case, five persons from Odisha lost their lives when the ambulance in which they were travelling fell into a culvert on February 14 near Yelamanchili. Even Kakinada MP Thota Narasimham had a providential escape when his car met with an accident near Nakkapalli in January and Payakaraopeta MLA V Anitha also received injuries when her car met with an accident near Uddandapuram village of Nakkapalli mandal in August last year.