Rampachodavaram: 14 tourists hurt as minibus slips into valley

Rampachodavaram(ASR District): As many 14 tourists were injured when a minibus carrying them from Visakhapatnam to Vanjangi Hills tourist area in Alluri Sitarama Raju district met with an accident on Sunday morning. This bus lost control and slipped into the valley. However, the police said that none of the passengers received life-threatening injuries. The injured were rushed to Paderu Hospital.

These tourists from Visakhapatnam were on their way to Vanjangi Hills after visiting Araku valley and Borra caves in Visakhapatnam. Apparently, they were going to spend the night in that area to see the cloud hill in Vanjangi in the early morning of Monday. It was suspected that the vehicle might lost control as the narrow road became muddy due to rain.

District Collector Sumeet Kumar along with SP Satish Kumar inspected the accident area on Monday evening. The Collector enquired about the reasons for the accident and ordered the officials to provide better services to the injured in Paderu hospital.

Collector Sumeet Kumar announced that from now onwards, vehicles will be banned from 5.30 pm till morning. It is advised to get permission from the police to travel during that time. He warned that legal action would be taken against those, who violate the rules. Similarly, strict action will be taken against those, who drink and drive. He said that all kinds of measures are being taken to prevent accidents, and as part of that, the area has been declared as an accident-prone area.

SP Satish Kumar said that FIR was registered on the mini-bus accident and investigation is on.