ONGOLE: Four of a family were killed and two other injured when their speeding car rammed a tanker on the national highway near Gundlapalli village of Maddipadu mandal in Prakasam district on Sunday morning.
According to police, Vissamsetty Panduranga Rao (42), with four of his family members, was returning from Tirupati when the incident took place around 6 am.
The driver, Jonnala Sambi Reddy (38), lost control over the car and crashed into the tanker carrying milk from behind. Sambi Reddy and three others, one of whom was a 10-year-old, were killed on the spot. Other deceased were identified as V Panduranga Rao, SVV Narasimha Rao and V Syam Satya Sagar (10).
Meanwhile, two other passengers–Vissamsetti Anuradha (38) and Bhanupriya–were shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ongole as they suffered severe injuries.
The police added, Panduranga Rao, hailing from Meduru in Pamidimukkala mandal of Krishna district, was returning home after praying at the Tirumala temple.
“According to eyewitnesses and victims’ statements, we believe that the car was being rashly driven, which was the cause of the accident. Though the passengers asked the driver to be careful and go slow, Sambireddy did not heed their advice.
"Immediately after receiving information about the accident, police officials rushed to the spot and undertook a rescue operation. The bodies have been shifted to RIMS mortuary and the injured are undergoing treatment there,” a police officer said.
Later, a case was registered and an investigation was initiated.
25 convicted in drunk driving cases
A Vijayawada court on Saturday convicted 25 people for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The accused were caught by traffic cops on duty during regular drunk and drive enforcement drive by IV-Town traffic police.
After the hearings, the eighth additional metropolitan chief magistrate pronounced judgement of minimum three days jail term to the accused along with a fine amount of Rs 2,000.