GITAM university founder, TDP leader MVVS Murthy killed in accident in US

Former MP MVVS Murthy and two others from Visakhapatnam were killed in a road accident in Alaska in the US at around 4.30 am (IST) on Wednesday.

Murthy, popularly known as Goldspot Murthy, was a noted industrialist and founder of the Gandhi Institute of Technology And Management (GITAM) University in Visakhapatnam.

According to his relatives, the vehicle transporting them from California collided head on with a truck coming from the opposite direction.

Anchorage Daily News based in Anchorage, Alaska, reported that the accident on the Parks Highway killed four and injured more.

Four men died after the driver of a 2017 Dodge van tried to pass the commercial vehicle in a no-passenger zone of Cantwell and the van as a result collided with a 2007 Ford-F pickup in the opposite lane, seriously injuring a child inside, the newspaper said.

The other two victims were identified as Velivolu Basavapunnaiah and VBR Chowdary.

Another person Kadiayala Venkataratnam, also travelling in the same car, was airlifted to a nearby hospital and is said to be battling for life.

Murthy had gone to the US for an interaction with the alumni of his GITAM University scheduled in California on October 6.

Members of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) are helping bring back the bodies of the victims to their native place.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock in a condolence message.

First Published: Oct 03, 2018 10:13 IST