40 injured as bus crashes into truck, plunges off bridge in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur

At least 40 passengers were injured, several of them critically, after a private bus collided with a truck and plunged off a bridge on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru National Highway (NH-44) in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district early Sunday, police said.

The accident occurred around 4 am near Pogururu village in Pamidi mandal when a Hyderabad-Bengaluru Volvo bus was crossing the Pogururu bridge.

According to police, the bus rammed into an Eicher truck, causing both vehicles to fall off the bridge. The impact severely damaged the vehicles, leaving several passengers trapped inside the mangled bus.

“The bus rammed into an Eicher truck, and as a result, both vehicles fell off the bridge, leaving them severely damaged,” an officer at Pamidi police station said.

The officer said around 10 passengers were in critical condition. The bus driver was also among those seriously injured and had to be rescued from the wreckage with the help of an excavator.

“With the help of the excavator, we managed to extricate the bus driver after a prolonged operation,” the officer said.

The injured passengers were initially taken to the Pamidi government hospital. Those with serious injuries were subsequently referred to the Government Hospital in Anantapur for advanced treatment.

Police teams cleared the wreckage from the site and regulated traffic on the highway.

A case has been registered under Section 125(A) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to causing injuries through rash and negligent driving. Police have launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances that led to the crash.