ANANTAPUR: In a tragic incident, five persons, including three children, died and eight others suffered serious injuries when a Tempo Traveller mini bus in which they were travelling hit a parked tractor on Kadapa-Kurnool NH road near Kanagudur village in Duvvur mandal in Kadapa district on Wednesday. The tourists in the Tempo Traveller were residents of Uppal and Ibrahimpatnam in Hyderabad city. The deceased were identified as K. Venkateswarulu, 39, B. Dhanalakshmi, 43, Greeshma, 10 Sai,11 and Harshith, 6.

Sources said, about 20 members of four families from Uppal and Ibhrahimpatnam areas in Hyderabad city hired a mini bus (TS-08, 0533) a week ago and visited Mysore, Bengaluru and other tourist places in Karnataka. Later, they reached Tirumala. After visiting Tirumala, they were returning to Hyderabad on Tuesday night and the mini bus was proceeding towards Kurnool road through Kadapa district.

When the vehicle reached near Kanagudur village in Duvvur mandal on Kadapa- Kurnool highway, the driver lost control of the vehicle, moving at a high speed, and hit a sand tractor parked beside the road. Under the impact of the collision, the Temp Traveller was badly damaged and the bodies of five persons landed on the road.

Eight others in the mini bus sustained serious injuries and were shifted to Proddatur hospital. Kadapa SP P.H.D. Ramakrishna and others rushed to the spot and took up rescue measures. A JCB was hired to separate the two vehicles as the front portion of the Tempo Traveller got stuck in the tractor. The bodies were shifted to Proddatur hospital for post-mortem. Duvvur police registered case.