Five agriculture labourers from Guddampalli in Tadimarri Mandal of Sri Sathya Sai District got burnt alive and three others are battling for their lives with injuries in a hospital in Anantapur when an 11 KV high tension electric wire snapped at the insulator near a pole and fell on the vehicle carrying 10 passengers and a driver on Thursday morning.
While the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO) officials said a squirrel had fallen on the wire leading to a short-circuit and snapping of wire, the locals said the wire had three joints and was 50 years old.