Kurnool accident: Death toll rises to 16

TIRUPATI: The death toll in the road accident at the Veldurthi crossroads in Kurnool district rose to 16 after one of the injured undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital at Kurnool passed away at 12.15 am on Sunday.
The private Volvo bus’s driver, Joseph, has been arrested. Of the 16 deceased, one was a motorist, identified as Masoom Basha (35), who belongs to Kurnool district, while the other 15 were returning to their homes in Ramapuram under Vaddepalli mandal in Jogulamba Gadwal district in the ill-fated SUV that was hit by a private Volvo bus on Saturday.
The relatives of the deceased reached Kurnool Government Hospital around midnight on Saturday.Alampur MLA V M Abraham visited the hospital and consoled the families. He promised that the TRS government would extend financial support to them.
On Sunday morning, family members of the deceased staged protests at the hospital, demanding ex gratia. YSR Congress (YSRC) Panyam MLA Katasani Rambhupam Reddy, activists of the Mala Mahanadu, MRPS and others joined in and demanded that the government pay Rs 5- Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to the families of each of the deceased.
Expressing his inability to immediately announce the ex-gratia because the model code of conduct was in effect, the district collector said a report had already been sent to the state government of Andhra Pradesh. An immediate relief of ?10,000 was handed out to each family to carry out the final rites of the deceased.