Andhra Pradesh is grappling with large scale death and destruction caused by heavy rains across the state. About 40 people went missing on Sunday after a lorry carrying about 50 people was washed away in flash floods in a rivulet in Guntur district as it was drying negotiate the flood waters over a bridge.
The tragedy occurred when the toll in the continuing heavy rains and flood over the last two days has mounted to 59 -- 14 of them in the state capital Hyderabad and 13 in Krishna district.
Transport Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, who was among the first to reach the spot to oversee the rescue operations, said that while seven persons survived, three bodies have been recovered.
"The district administration is making all possible efforts to rescue the missing people," he said over telephone.
Officials said that the people boarded the truck to go to Amravati Mandal because the bus service in the region was suspended since the last two days due to rains and floods.
"When the lorry was negotiating the flooded Kondaveeti Vagu, flash floods washed the vehicle away," said Lakshmi Narayana, who survived the mishap.
"We were stuck as there was no public transport in the area since the last two days and had to take the lorry to reach home," he said.
The accident occurred at Narakullapadu, about 20 km away from Guntur city. Most of the victims are from Pedakurapadu mandal of the district. The people travelling in the truck included 10 women and five children.
Guntur is among the ten districts, which have been affected by the heavy rains and floods over the last three days under influence of low pressure area in Bay of Bengal.
More bad news
The low pressure area in Bay of Bengal has now intensified in depression.
The Visakhapatanam Cyclone Warning Center said that the depression lay centred off the coast of Puri in Orissa. Heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa since Friday were caused by the low pressure.
The weather office has warned that would be widespread rains in coastal Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana region over the next 36 hours. Due to the depression, which was moving in north-north westerly direction, there will be winds with a speed up to 45 to 55 km per hour.
Fishermen have been warned not to venture in to the sea.
Apart from Hyderabad and Krishna districts, deaths were reported from West Godavari (7), Guntur (5), Nalgonda (4), Medak (3), Visakhapatnam (2) and Warangal two. More deaths were reported from different places. Most of the deaths were either due to house collapse or flood.
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, after reviewing the situation with the officials on Sunday, told media persons that the state government had opened 85 relief camps across the state and was providing the evacuated people with food and drinking water.
