Sri Satya Sai tragedy: 5 women electrocuted after high tension wire falls on auto-rickshaw

Satya Sai: In a tragic incident on Thursday morning, five women were electrocuted to death after a high-tension wire fell on an auto-rickshaw at Chillakondapally in Tadimarri Mandal of Sri Satya Sai district

This is the second incident in the last one week in the state. Earlier two siblings were electrocuted after an 11 KV high-tension wire fell on them while they were riding a motorcycle, in Devulapalli village under Jangareddygudem Mandal in Eluru. All the deceased were residents of Guddempally. The incident happened when they were going to their agriculture field. The high tension wire fell on the auto-rickshaw causing a huge blaze.

According to the preliminary information, there were around 10 members in the auto. 5 including the driver escaped from the mishap. The deceased are identified as Kanthaamma, Ramulamma, Lakshmi Devi, Ratnamma and Kumari. One of the deceased Kumari was taking all the workers for agricultural work in the fields. In the incident, one of the worker Lakshmi suffered critical wounds. She has been shifted to hospital.

Villagers blamed the electricity department for the mishap. They alleged that poor maintenance is causing accidents. They alleged that they have repeatedly complained about hanging electric wires but to no avail.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia each, for the family members of the deceased.

What the officials say?

"Preliminary information revealed that the squirrel, which was crossing the high tension line, caused a short circuit. As a result, the wire snapped and fell on the auto-rickshaw. This is one of the rarest incidents However, we will also see if there are any other reasons. We are enquiring into it ", said Harinath Rao, CMD, Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APSPDCL). He said the squirrel also died in the incident.

APSPDCL has announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for each deceased and Rs 2 lakh for the injured.