1 killed, 30 hurt as bus plunges into valley in AP

Rajahmundry (AP), May 9: A 55-year-old woman was today killed and 30 pilgrims injured when a bus they were travelling in plunged into a valley in the deep forest area of Maredumilli in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, police said.

The mishap occurred in Rampachodavaram division of the district around 5 AM. The bus carrying 35 devotees from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh was returning after a pilgrimage to a Rama temple at Bhadrachalam in Telangana, Maredumilli police station Sub-inspector D Ramesh Babu said.

The victims were proceeding to take a holy dip in Pushkar ghat of Godavari here when the mishap occurred. When the bus reached Tiger Camp in Maredumilli forest area, the driver of the vehicle tried to negotiate a narrow curve and lost control over it, after which it fell into the valley, the sub-inspector said.

He said 30 injured have been rushed to Rampachodavaram government hospital. The body has been sent for postmortem while four others escaped unhurt, he added.

Being a thick forest area, rescue teams took time to reach the spot and begin work, police said.

PTI