Four Andhra students killed in road mishap in US

A fatal accident on highway 42 in Missouri claimed the lives of four Indian students from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and critically injured the fifth student who was driving. All the students hailed from Andhra Pradesh.

According to police and newspaper reports, the four Rolla residents were killed on the spot of the accident.

The deceased were identified as Sri Harsha Chittury (from Visakhapatnam), 22, Dheeraj Gudlawar (from Hyderabad), 23, Srikanth Ravi (from Hyderabad), 21, and Srupun Velumula (from Karimnagar), 24, a release from the Telugu Association of North America stated.

With inputs from PTI

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Velumula, a graduate student in information science and technology, graduated on Friday night with his master's degree in that subject. Murali Bottu, 22, driver of the car, also graduated on Friday night with a master's degree in electrical engineering.

Harsha Chitturi was a graduate student in computer science, Srikanth Ravi was a graduate student in manufacturing engineering while Dheeraj Gudlawar was a graduate student in information science and technology.

The highway patrol said Bottu was driving westbound on highway 42 at Hawkins Cemetery Road around 10:45 am on Sunday when he lost control of the vehicle. He crossed the  center line and overcorrected, causing the vehicle to become sideways in the roadway.

A 2000 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by Darren J Denter, 38, of Glencove, collided with Bottu's 1997 Toyota Camry on the passenger side, reports said.

Upon notified by relations, TANA TeamSquare immediately started to provide emergency assistance and logistical support. TANA president Jayaram Komati, secretary Mohan Nannapaneni and members Raja Surapaneni, Srinivas Dondapati, Srinivas Korapati and Sandeep Alluri came forward to help.

Nannapaneni has been coordinating with the university and family members and making arrangements to send the bodies to India. The expenses for medical services and transferring the bodies will be covered via student's insurance and with assistance from their university.

Murali Bottu, was life-flighted after the crash to University Hospital with serious injuries.

One passenger in Denter's vehicle was also injured. Robert E Davis, 32, of Cedar Hill, was taken to the Lake Regional Hospital with moderate injuries. Denter declined medical treatment at the scene.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy  expressed grief over the death of the four students from the state, and also directed the general administration department's principal secretary (political) R M Gonela to co-ordinate with the US authorities for bringing bodies of the deceased to the state.

Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu also extended his sympathies to the bereaved families.