Seven pilgrims killed, 20 injured in road mishap

Seven pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured as the bus they were travelling in rammed into a stationary vehicle at Tumakaru district in Karnataka, a police official said on Monday. The victims included five women.

The bus carrying the pilgrims was returning from Chowdeshwari temple in the district when it crashed into another bus parked on the roadside on Sunday night and the driver lost control of the vehicle.

While three died on the spot, the other four succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital. The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in Tumakuru district, the official added.

In another incident in Andhra Pradesh on the same night, five pilgrims, including two women and an infant, were killed near Tirupati after a collision between a SUV and a mini-lorry at Mamanduru, 20 km from Tirupati, a police officials there said.

The mishap took place when the vehicle in which a  10-member family was headed for the Lord Venkateswara temple at nearby Tirumala, collided with a mini-lorry, they said. The injured were admitted to a government hospital in Tirupati and the condition of one of them is stated to be critical, police said.

All the pilgrims hailed from Koratamaddi in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, the police added.