At least six members of a family from Andhra Pradesh's Konaseema district, who were relatives of Mummidivaram MLA P Venkata Satish Kumar from YSR Congress Party, were killed in a car accident in the US state of Texas on Tuesday after Christmas. Some victims were identified as P Nageshwar Rao, Seetha Mahalakshmi, Naveena, Kruthik and Nishitha.
As per reports, seven people were travelling in their car on Tuesday when it collided head-on with a truck. The sole survivor in the car, identified as Lokesh, was airlifted to a hospital where he is undergoing treatment in a critical condition, according to MLA Kumar. The two occupants in the truck were also injured and hospitalised.
Meanwhile, local authorities said that the truck was at fault for the accident. "My uncle, aunt, their daughter, two grandchildren and another relative died in the accident when a 17-year-old American boy came in a truck and hit their car," Kumar told news agency PTI on Wednesday. The six victims died on the spot.
Kumar's relatives had gone to their relative Vishal's house in Texas for the Christmas holidays, travelling from Atlanta in Georgia state. They were returning from a zoo park when the tragedy struck, according to the MLA.
The relatives come from Amalapuram in Andhra's Konaseema district. The two-time YSRCP MLA Kumar said that one of the victims, Nageshwar Rao, was his father P Satya Rao's younger brother. Nageshwar Rao's daughter, who also died in the accident, was a resident of Atlanta.
The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) has extended assistance to repatriate the bodies of the six deceased persons, said Kumar. The crash occurred on Highway 67, a farm-to-market road in Cleburne City in Texas.
(with PTI inputs)
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