The death toll in the Kondagattu bus accident which took place in Telangana's Jagityal district on Tuesday has mounted to 57, ANI reported.
The mishap happened after a state-run road transport corporation bus overturned and fell into a valley in Telangana's Jagitial district on Tuesday morning. Speaking to ANI, Finance Minister Etela Rajender, confirmed the death toll.
According to the ANI report, 32 were women and four were children.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the victims of the bus accident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
President Ram Nath Kovind also took to Twitter to express his condolences.
The former Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekhar Rao, has announced Rs 5 lakh as an ex-gratia payment to the family members of the deceased, ANI reported.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP K Kavitha and Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao visited the injured in the hospital.
Many of the injured can be seen bleeding, even as locals rushed to the spot to help.
"The bus is a local one from Jagitial depot ... totally overloaded. The bus was coming from Shanivarampet to Jagitial. After reaching Kondagattu, which is a ghat road, the bus lost control and fell down, killing 23 persons on the spot. The bus had more than 50 passengers. The incident took place at 11.30 am. We were all at Collectorate and rushed immediately and rescued many by 12.15 pm," Jagitial Revenue Divisional Officer G Narendhar told The News Minute (TNM).
The survivors say that they were petrified and yelling in panic after the bus was about to fall. We suspect that the bus’ brakes failed.G Narendhar, Revenue Divisional Officer, Jagitial to TNM.
The injured have been rushed to government hospitals in Jagtial and Karimnagar. The incident took place at the Kondagattu Ghat Road, as a bus full of pilgrims was returning to Jagitial town from the famous temple in the district. Officials say that the bus could have skid before it fell.
According to reports, the brakes of the bus failed, following which it flipped over. The passengers reportedly belonged to the villages of Mallial and Nachpally.
Superintendent of Police Sindhu Sharma and Jagtial District Collector Dr A Sharat immediately rushed to the spot to oversee rescue operations.
In a statement, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock and his condolences over the ghastly road accident and directed officials to provide medical assistance to the injured.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi too expressed grief over the death of the pilgrims.
Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S LNarasimhan also expressed shock over the bus accident in Telangana's Jagtial district and offered his condolences to the members of the bereaved families.
The governor said he is pained by the loss of precious lives and injuries to several passengers in the accident, a Raj Bhavan release said.
(This is a developing story. Further details are awaited.)
(With inputs from ANI and The News Minute)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)