10 killed, 19 hurt as bus falls in canal; 3 die in car mishap

Vijayawada (AP), Aug 22 (PTI) Ten persons were killed and19 others injured when their bus fell into a canal atNayakangudem in Khammam district of Telangana in the wee hourstoday, police said. Besides, three persons died in Andhra Pradesh when theircar met with an accident in Chittoor district early thismorning when they were returning from the Krishna Pushkaramfestival, they said. The driver of the private bus was apparently driving thevehicle at a very high speed. He lost control over the wheels,as a result the bus on its way to Kakinada from Hyderabad,fell into the canal under Kusumanchi mandal, police said. Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3lakh each to the kin of the 10 deceased. Some of the victims belonged to East Godavari and somewere from West Godavari district of the AP. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief overthe accident and spoke to East Godavari district CollectorArun Kumar over phone to enquire about the incident. The 19 injured persons were admitted to the GovernmentGeneral Hospital for treatment, Kumar said. Meanwhile, three persons were killed in a separate roadaccident in the Chittoor district early this morning. The car they were travelling in rammed into a stationarylorry on the highway at Srimallavaram village, killing threepersons belonging to Madanapalle. The victims were returning to their town after takingpart in the Krishna Pushkaram. Naidu also spoke to Chittoor district CollectorSiddharth Jain over phone and enquired about the incident, acommunication from the CMO here said. PTI DBV VVK GKRCJ