Four people died after two trucks collided head-on and burst into flames on National Highway 16 (NH-16) near Boyapalem village in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
The accident occurred at around 6 am. Among the four dead were two truck drivers and two truck cleaners, but police have not yet identified them.
“We are yet to confirm their names and ages. All four were charred beyond recognition,” said Vakul Jindal, Guntur district police inspector.
Police said that according to preliminary investigations, one of the trucks, which was heading from Chilakkaluripet towards Guntur, hit the barrier and crossed to the other side before colliding with another truck coming from the opposite direction towards Chilakkaluripet.
The collision led to a massive fire that engulfed both cars within minutes. One of the trucks was transporting stones, while the other was carrying a shipment of paper, which caught fire immediately after the accident.
“The victims were trapped inside the vehicles and could not escape,” Jindal said.
Police teams, fire and emergency services personnel were sent to the scene shortly after receiving the information. However, the severity of the fire made rescue operations difficult, as it took authorities several hours to recover bodies from the burning vehicles.
A case was registered and an investigation was opened to determine why the truck crossed the central checkpoint.
Meanwhile, firefighters put out the fire and police regulated traffic on the highway.
