As many as nine persons including the driver of an APSRTC bus died after it fell off a bridge at Jalleruvagu of Jangareddygudem mandal in West Godavari district on Wednesday.
The bus fell off the bridge by accident and plunged into the canal beneath the bridge.
It belonged to the Jangareddyguddem bus depot.
The incident also left nine others seriously injured. The injured were rushed to Jangareddygudem area hospital. Officials have said that the number of those dead might go up.
The local RDO and DSP have taken up the rescue operations.
The bus had 47 passengers at the time of the accident.
Locals said that the majority of the dead people were women and children. They also said that the victims died as they were not able to get out of the bus.
The accident took place when the bus was going towards Velerupadu.
Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy expressed his shock over the accident. He conveyed his condolences to the family members of the nine victims who lost their lives in the incident, and announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh to the family members of each of the victims.
AP Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan too expressed profound grief over the accident. He instructed the officials to provide immediate healthcare to the injured persons.