14 killed, 15 hurt as truck runs over people near Tirupati

In a freak mishap, 14 persons were killed and 15 injured when a speeding lorry yesterday ploughed into a crowd and also knocked down a high-tension power cable pole, leading to electrocution of several of them near Tirupati

The driver fled the spot after the accident

Tirupati: In a freak mishap, 14 persons were killed and 15 injured when a speeding lorry yesterday ploughed into a crowd and also knocked down a high-tension power cable pole, leading to electrocution of several of them near Tirupati.

The mishap occurred outside a police station at Yerpedu, about 30 km from Tirupati in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, where a group of 40 people from Munagala Palem village had assembled to lodge a complaint on illegal sand mining on the Swarnamukhi riverbed.

Eleven persons died on the spot, while three succumbed at the hospital.

Eyewitnesses said the lorry first ran over the crowd and then hit the electric pole, resulting in the overhead high-tension cable snapping and falling on the people.

Some two-wheelers parked at the spot also caught fire after coming into contact with the live wire.

Rs 5 lakh
Ex-gratia announced for kin of the deceased

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