9th victim of tractor mishap traced

A day after eight people were killed after the tractor trolley carrying them fell into the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (AMRP) canal in Padamati thanda in Pedda Adiserlapally the locals found the body of untraced ninth victim — Ramavath Bazu — on Saturday.

The 50-year-old victim was seen floating upside down, about 100 metres away from the accident site. She was in her traditional Lambada attire — Kali, Petia and Tukira, with a handful of white bangles.

The hamlet dwellers could not stop grieving, as the victim’s hand was tied to the bank of the Canal to prevent it from floating away till the officials arrived.

Doctors and police who reached the spot completed the recordings and handed over the body to the family.

Meanwhile, in Nalgonda, Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath congratulated a young priest Ramavath Hanuma, one of the three men traveling on the tractor, who saved nearly 12 women from drowning. Hanuma, a young priest in the hamlet’s temple was given ₹ 5, 000 as cash reward. The SP said that the youth would be nominated for the President’s Bravery Award for his selfless act of bravery.

Later in the day, it was learnt the police team took into custody the contractor driver and the contractor of the work being done on the Canal road. A full disclosure of the investigation and cause of the accident would be made on Sunday, a police official said.