Five people were killed on the spot when the auto rickshaw in which they were travelling collided head on with a tipper truck at Buchi Naidu Kandriga, 55 km from Tirupati, early on Tuesday.
Three more persons travelling in the vehicle sustained injuries.
The incident happened when the passengers were returning home after offering prayers at the famed Sri Kalahastheeswara temple in the nearby Srikalahasti town, in view of the auspicious Maha Sivaratri day. The tipper, proceeding towards Srikalahasti, rammed into the auto rickshaw near the sugar factory.
The impact was so heavy that the auto rickshaw turned into a mangled mass of metal and its top portion was ripped open. The bodies were carefully retrieved from the vehicle. Apart from the auto driver Venkataramana (48), the other passengers Rama Rao (50), Kumari (47), Ananth (16) and Bindu (18) also died on the spot. The bodies were rushed to Srikalahasti area hospital.
This treacherous stretch between Srikalahasti and Tada, which connects the Chittoor-Nellore inter-district border to the northern suburbs of Chennai, witnesses high-density traffic. But it has remained a single road so far.