Woman and infant feared dead in Markapuram bus accident

A 25-year-old migrant construction worker, Prabavathi, who boarded the ill-fated private travel bus in Telangana’s Jagtial town on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) night along with her months-old baby, feared dead in the ghastly road accident near Rayavaram in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district early on Thursday morning.

The Vinjamuru-bound private passenger bus started its journey from Telangana’s Nirmal town, carrying around 36 passengers — mostly construction workers and masons from Andhra Pradesh — and driver and conductor on Wednesday evening. Two more boarded later.

Two passengers, including Prabhavathi along with her baby, boarded the bus in Jagtial en route Vinjamuru in Andhra Pradesh.

A survivor

Another passenger identified as Manohar, a native of Markapuram district, escaped from the horrific road accident with multiple injuries.

According to sources, at least 13 passengers of the bus were killed and 25 others injured when the bus caught fire after colliding with a tipper lorry near Rayavaram in the pre-dawn accident. Most of the occupants of the bus hail from Markapuram, Prakasam and Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh, sources added.

When the Jagtial Town Police contacted Manohar over phone, he told them that he was admitted to the Government Hospital in Markapuram with grievous injuries. However, the attempts to reach Prabhavathi over mobile phone went in vain as the phone was switched off.

The private bus which met with ghastly accident in Markapuram of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday (March 26, 2026), started from Nirmal and headed to Vinjamuru
| Photo Credit:
THE HINDU GRAPHICS

Police managed to contact her husband Srinu, a native of Podili village in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district, over phone. A grief-stricken Srinu told them that he was heading to the accident spot from his village.

Prabhavathi worked as a construction labourer in Jagtial district along with her family members. Her husband had gone to their native village a couple of days ago.

The 34-seater private bus was carrying around 40 passengers at the time of the accident. Sources added that the private non-AC sleeper bus’s owner hails from Krishna district [Andhra Pradesh] and it plies daily between Nirmal and Vinjamuru.

The construction workers from Andhra Pradesh mainly depend on the private bus services to commute to their native places from various towns in north Telangana. The horrific bus accident due to alleged rash driving raised questions about the safety of the passengers travelling by the private buses during night.

District Collector P. Rajababu and Superintendent of police V. Harshavardhan Raju visited the accident site and gathered details from the officials near Markapuram in Andhra Pradesh.
| Photo Credit:
KOMMURI SRINIVAS