Five agriculture labourers from Guddampalli in Tadimarri mandal of Sri Sathya Sai district were burnt alive and two others suffered injuries when an 11-KV High Tension live electric wire snapped at the insulator near a pole and fell on an autorickshaw carrying 11 women passengers besides the driver, on Thursday morning.
The incident took place at 7 a.m. when the 11, farm labourers from Guddampalli and close relatives, were on their way to Chillakondaiahpalli to work in a sweet lime farm.
Five of them were electrocuted and charred. One woman K. Gayathri suffered serious burns while the driver Talari Pothulaiah received minor injuries. The other five escaped unhurt. The vehicle was travelling on a kutcha road along with two other vehicles which crossed the same spot minutes before.
While the APTRANSCO officials said a squirrel had fallen on the wire leading to a short-circuit and the snapping of the wire, local people said the wire had three joints, and sparks were witnessed on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the APSPDCL Chairman and Managing Director H. Harinadh Rao has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The deceased were identified as Kuruba Kanthamma, 50, Konka Lakshmidevi, 42, Konka Ratnamma, 50, Konka Kumari, 30, and K. Ramalakshmi, 28.
The snapped wire is said to have fallen on an iron frame being carried on top of the auto causing sparks that triggered a fire. With the flames spreading very fast in the overloaded vehicle, the women could not come out and got burnt.
The APTRANSCO officials said the grid should have tripped at the sub-station automatically, but it failed and they had to switch it off manually after they got the information at 7.10 a.m.
