5 killed, 15 hurt in road accident in Gadwal district

Gadwal: In a gruesome road accident at Parucherla village of Dharur mandal in the district on Monday early morning, five people were killed and 15 others suffered critical injuries when the vehicle they were travelling in fell into a roadside ditch.

According to eye witnesses, the driver of the Bolero van, carrying 40 labourers, lost control over vehicle and drove it into a ditch killing five and injuring the remaining passengers. All the injured were shifted to Gadwal area hospital for treatment.

The labourers, from Chinnapadu and Yamunonipally villages of Dharur mandal, were returning from a night shift at a Ginning Mill in Gadwal. The driver of the van slipped into slumber and lost control over the vehicle plunging it into a roadside ditch. After receiving the news about the accident, Gadwal SP Vijay Kumar, rushed to the Area Hospital and took stock of the situation. He directed the doctors and staff to attend to the injured on priority. “We are investigating the incident and have booked a case against the driver and vehicle owner for negligence and overload,” informed the SP.

Former MLA of Gadwal, Bharat Simha Reddy, also visited the hospital and expressed his solidarity with the injured. Later in the afternoon, the relatives of the deceased victims and injured labourers staged a protest on hospital premises and demanded ex gratia from the owner of the Ginning mill, lest will not claim the dead bodies.

Later, the Mill owner and the Seed Men Association of Gadwal announced ex gratia of Rs 6 lakh to families of deceased and promised to bear all medical expenses of injured persons. “It is an unfortunate incident. We have announced ex-gratia of Rs 6 lakh to the deceased labourers and will bear all the hospital costs for the treatment of the injured,” said a member of Seed Men Association.