Eight killed in Andhra road accident

HYDERABAD - Eight members of a family were killed and three injured early Saturday when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Medak district, police said.

The accident took place near Ramjol in Medak, about 100 km from here. The dead include two women and a child. The family were from Bidar in Karnataka.

Tragedy struck the family when they were returning home after seeing off their relatives going on Haj pilgrimage from Hyderabad.

Muslims from regions in Karnataka close to Hyderabad leave for Haj from the Andhra Pradesh capital, which is relatively closer to them than Bangalore.

Police said while six people died on the spot, one died on the way to hospital and another succumbed while undergoing treatment. Three who were injured have been admitted to hospital.

The accident led to a traffic jam on the Hyderabad-Mumbai highway.

Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of road accidents in the country. According to State Crime Records Bureau, 14,792 people were killed and 59,506 injured in 44,164 road accidents in the state last year. Over 43,000 people have lost their lives in 135,713 accidents in the last three years.