Girl dies, 20 injured as truck overturns

Eluru: A 12-year-old girl student died and 20 others sustained injuries when the mini-truck overturned after hitting another truck at Dharmajigudem village in Lingapalem mandal on Saturday.

According to police, 20 children of Mangapeta village in Krishna district, including 10 boys and 10 girls, who were practising Kolatam dance, boarded a truck-auto, along with attendant Ramulu to participate in Kolatam dance at Ramakoti Festival in Eluru city. Driver Nageswara Rao was in a drunken state and hit a tipper near Kanakadurga temple at Dharmajigudem.

The mini-truck overturned and fell into a gorge. Guntru Swetha (12), Guntru Madhu (12), Ponnuboina Ramakrishna (9), and Ponnuboina Veerababu (15) sustained serious injuries. The other students received minor injuries. On receiving information, police rushed to the s and shifted the injured to Eluru Government Hospital.

Doctors declared Swetha as brought dead. The other three students, who received serious injuries, were shifted to a private hospital for better treatment. The attendant Ramulu also received minor injuries, police added.

The injured are the students of Subba Rao, a Kolatam dance teacher from Recharla village in Chintalapudi mandal. As Subba Rao was suffering from ill-health, he asked Ramulu of Mangapeta to take the students to Eluru to participate in the programme. Dharmajigudem police registered a case. The truck-auto driver is at large.