VIJAYAWADA: At least 12 people died and several others were injured when a truck ran into a crowd outside Yerpedu police station in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
The driver of the truck en route Srikalahasti, rammed into an electric pole near police station, after running over at least 20 people. A power cable from the pole fell on the motorcycles parked on the roadside and the bikes were gutted in the resultant fire and some people were electrocuted.
The vehicle also ran into the shops on roadside near the police station. More people are feared dead as the wreckage from the accident site is being cleared.
The victims were waiting outside the police station at Yerpedu to lodge a complaint against the unchecked sand quarrying in Suvarnamukhi River when the incident occurred.
“It happened all of a sudden and many people died due to electrocution. We are shifting the injured to SVR Ruia Hospital,” Tirupati superintendent (Urban) R Jayalakshmi told mediapersons.
According to her, the circle inspector and sub-inspector of Yerpedu police station too got injured in the accident.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the mishap and spoke with Chittoor district collector Pradhyumna to take stock of the situation.
On the CM’s direction, two ministers--P Narayana and N Amaranath Reddy—visited the accident site for supervising the rescue efforts.