Eight Karnataka Pilgrims Die in Andhra Crash

At least eight pilgrims from Karnataka, including five women and a three-year-old girl, died and around 10 others were injured in a head-on collision between their vehicle and a tanker lorry near Chilakaladona village in Mantralayam mandal of Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district early Thursday morning.

The accident occurred around 3 a.m. on National Highway 167 when the Bolero-type light commercial vehicle, carrying nearly 20 devotees en route to the Sri Raghavendra Swamy temple in Mantralayam for a religious visit, veered into the wrong lane and rammed into an oncoming readymix concrete tanker. Police attributed the crash to the driver's drowsiness, which led to the fatal misjudgment. Five passengers died at the scene, while three others succumbed to their injuries during treatment, raising the death toll to eight. The injured were rushed to Yemmiganur Government Hospital, with critically wounded individuals later transferred to Kurnool Government General Hospital for advanced care.

The victims hailed from Chikkamagaluru district in Karnataka and included Kumar, 60; Deepika Veena, 35; Sunil, 40; Belli, 3; Puttamma, 60; Meenakshi, 50; Thayamma, 60; and Lolakshi. Yemmiganur Deputy...