Rayagada: As many as six persons died and three others sustained critical injuries after the auto-rickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a speeding truck near Chalapadam Shiva temple on the Odisha-Andhra border.
According to reports, the deceased persons were identified as Melaka Ammudama, Huika Lakshmi, Huika Narsama, Malaka Venkathy and Malaka Sarada of Antivalsa village in Komarada, Andhra Pradesh. Besides, seven seriously injured people have been admitted to the local Parvathipuram hospital.
Sources said, 13 persons from Bangaramma village of Komarada in Andhra Pradesh had come to Tumalbalsa village this morning by an auto rickshaw to fix a marriage. On their way back this afternoon, a speeding truck hit the auto near Choulapadam Shiva Temple.
A truck coming from the opposite direction at high speed hit the vehicle head-on, leaving four women and an elderly man dead on the spot. On being informed, police reached the accident spot, recovered the dead bodies and shifted the injured to Parvathipuram hospital.
Parvathipuram SP V. Vidyasagar reached the spot and assessed the situation.
