Four members of family from Visakhapatnam were killed and another was seriously injured, when the car in which they were travelling rammed a lorry at the highly accident-prone Ithepalle junction on the outskirts of Chandragiri town on the busy Puthalapattu-Naidupeta NH, 12 km, on Friday.
According to the Chandragiri police, the deceased were identified as Sunil Kumar (30) and Swathi (25) and their daughter Shyama Artana (2) and Swati’s brother Prem Kumar (22), all belonging to Sundaraiah Nagar locality of Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam. They were on their way to the Golden Temple at Vellore Tamil Nadu from Tirupati.
While trailing behind a lorry, the car driver reportedly tried to overtake the vehicle at high speed but hit its rear.
The impact was such that the roof of the car was blown away and the bodies were crushed under the mangled steel. The police from Chandragiri rushed to the spot and shifted the critically injured driver to SVRR Hospital at Tirupati.
Assisted by the local people, the police had a tough time retrieving the bodies from the mangled vehicle. With no survivor in the family and the driver in critical condition, it took several hours for the police to identify the deceased and inform their relatives in Visakhapatnam.
The bodies were shifted to the area hospital for autopsy. A case was registered.
