At least 14 people, including eight women and a child, were killed and four others injured when a minibus collided with a truck in the Kurnool district of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh early on Sunday, police said.
The collision occurred at around 4.30am local time Sunday (2300GMT Saturday), after which the injured were taken to a nearby state hospital.
“The road accident in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district is saddening. In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. I hope that the injured recover at the earliest,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi early Sunday.
“Pained to learn about the gruesome accident that took place in Veldurthi Mandal of Kurnool District. My heart goes out to the 14 families who have lost their loved ones. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” N. Chandrababu Naidu, the former chief minister of state, said in a tweet.
At least 12 people were killed in a fire at a firecracker factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday, police said.
Raja Narayanan, a regional police official, said an investigation was under way into what caused the blaze at a factory in the village of Achankulam in the Virudhunagar district.
“Twelve people have died and 26 have been hospitalised following the accident at the factory this afternoon,” he said.
The Virudhunagar district is India’s firecrackers capital, and hundreds of thousands of people in the region are dependent on the pyrotechnics industry for a living. Accidents are common.
At least 11 people were killed in two separate incidents in the region just before nationwide Covid-19 lockdowns were enforced in March. Fires in firecracker factories in 2009 and 2012 killed nearly 40 people each.
