Four medicos, drunk bus driver killed in accident

In a bizarre road accident, four Osmania Medical college students and driver of a private Volvo bus they were travelling died and 21 students were injured following an altercation on board seconds before the drunk driver veered the bus to the left hitting a tree near Surampalem on the outskirts of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

House surgeons G Laxman of Tandur, Adilabad, Moka Vijay Teja of Quthbullapur, Vodanala Uday of Karimnagar, and fourth year student Macha Pranay Raja Ram of Saroornagar, died on the spot.

The condition of two students K Sujith Reddy, 2013 batch, and S Rajesh Kumar, 2014 batch is said to be critical. They are kept under observation in ICU at Andhra Hospitals in Vijayawada.

The 45-member medical college student team, which was not accompanied by any teaching staff, was returning to Hyderabad from Amalapuram of East Godavari on Monday night after attending an inter-state annual medical students sports meet.

One of the students, Anil told the police that they had trouble with driver Vemula Siva and cleaner (name not known, absconding) after they found that cash kept in their wallets went missing when all of them went for boating in Krishna River. The tussle continued even after everyone boarded the bus. The students found that the driver was drunk.

“Our seniors were discussing the issue with the driver. All of a sudden the angry driver steered the bus towards the left. The bus hit a tree I think and then it fell down. When some of us broke the windows and came out, we found our seniors and driver dead on the spot,” Anil said.