16 people died and 30 were injured in an APSRTC bus drawn into a valley at Adadakulapalli village on Penukonda-Madakasira road in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday morning. See Anantapur bus accident details.

The bus was on the way to Penukonda from Madakasira when it rolled into the 40-feet deep valley. They said, “A majority of the victims are students, who were proceeding to schools and colleges in Penukonda. The condition of eight students is said to be critical.” The witnesses told to the local media, “When the bus fell down there, there were loud cries for help. We used ropes to climb down the valley and pulled the victims out.”

As the village, Penukonda is a major centre, the students from all nearby villages in the area go to the town for secondary and higher secondary education. The bus was filled with the maximum capacity with students, who are attending for their examinations. Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu and leader of the opposition, YS Jaganmohan Reddy expressed blow over the disaster.

Naidu, camping in Vijayawada, contributed about Rs 5 lakh to the victim’s families and Rs 2 lakh to the ones who seriously injured. He said, “Compensation of Rs 1 lakh will be given to passengers who received minor injuries.” “I have asked local ministers to rush to the spot and oversee the rescue operations. The district collector has been directed to provide the best possible medical aid to the injured,” he said.

Information minister, Palle Raghunath Reddy told to media, “The negligence by the bus driver had led to the mishap. The deceased have been identified as Sekhar, 17, ML Lakshmi Narayana, 16, T Ashok Kumar, 17, Dasari Gangadhar, 17, Narendra, 15, Narasimha Murthy, 16, Hanumanth Rayudu, 20, T Rama Krishna, 47, Murali, 11, Narendra, 15, Anitha, 17, Ashok Kumar, 17, (son of Ramanjappa), Gangadhar, 17 (son of Sajappa), Sreenivasulu, 35, and Gangadhar, 18 (son of Prabhanna), and K Lakshmi.”

APSRTC regional manager Venkateswara Rao said, “An inquiry will be conducted into the mishap.” Locals said, “The bus, which was supposed to be on the left margin of the road, was moving on the right side when it met with the accident.”