Eight persons, including two children and a woman, were killed and two others injured after a cement-laden lorry overturned and fell into an irrigation tank in Peddaviradu mandal of Prakasam district, police said today.
The mishap occurred near Gobburu around 8 PM yesterday when the lorry was on its way from Macharla in Guntur towards Kadapa district, they said.
The lorry driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a collision with an autorickshaw coming from the opposite direction as a result of which the lorry turned turtle and fell into an irrigation tank and the cement bags fell on the victims, DSP Markapuram G Ramanjaneyulu told PTI.
Eight persons died on the spot.
The ten victims included labourers travelling atop the lorry. The woman and children who died were family members of the labourers.
Six others travelling inside the cabin of the lorry escaped unhurt, the DSP said, adding that "all the eight bodies were recovered in a rescue and search operation that continued till 1 AM in the early hours of today."
The bodies were sent for postmortem. Further investigations were on, police said.
