Five people, including Karnataka Congress MLA A. Venkatesh Naik, were killed when a flatbed truck carrying a huge granite monolith crashed through a railway crossing near Madakasira in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh just as the Bangalore-Nanded express train was passing through. It rammed into the side of a carriage at around 2.30 a.m. on Monday.
Under the impact, the unfastened boulder slid onto coach H1 of the train, crushing four of the victims, including Mr. Venkatesh Naik, Deodurg MLA, who were sleeping in their berths. The granite block also crushed the cabin of the truck, killing the cleaner while the driver survived, and fled the scene. Three other passengers in the compartment were injured, and were taken to the Penukonda government general hospital and then to private hospitals in Bengaluru.
Railway authorities told The Hindu that the truck was carrying a single granite boulder from Sira in Karnataka to Tadipatri in Anantapur district. It rounded a blind downward curve at high speed just ahead of the Madakasira railway gate, and seemed to go out of control, possibly due to brake failure. They said the truck spun ninety degrees upon contact with the hurtling train, and the momentum dislodged the monolith from its carriage. It tore into one compartment with a deafening sound and derailed two others.
Passengers sleeping in the ill-fated H1 coach were the worst-affected. Mr. Naik and three other passengers — Syed Ahmed (an air-conditioning mechanic), E. Pulla Rao (a farmer from Raichur) and T.S.T. Raju (general manager at Indofil Industries, Bengaluru) — died on the spot while three others, also from the same coach — Jagdish Gupta (53), Shanta Gupta (46) and Suresh were seriously injured. Several other passengers with minor injuries and shock were shifted to Penukonda hospital.
