7 pilgrims killed in accident in TIRUPATI.

 Seven of an 11-member pilgrim party from Lucknow were killed in a road accident in the small hours of Sunday when their van collided head-on with a truck at Peruru on the Tirupati-Chandragiri bypass road, 4 km from Tirupati.
Six persons died on the spot, while another breathed his last after being admitted in Government-SVRR General Hospital, Tirupati. Four of them were men and three women, all said to be belonging to the same family. After reaching Chennai on December 26 from Lucknow, they set out on a South India tour onboard a hired vehicle. The tragedy occurred at 4.30 a.m. when they were on the way to Tirupati after visiting Sri Puram Golden Temple near Vellore.
The condition of four others who were injured and rushed to the hospital was stated to be stable. It was only with a great deal of effort that people from a nearby village, who rushed to spot on hearing the noise and extricated the bodies from the van. Police identified the deceased Tiwari (50), Sunil Pandey (40), Aravind (11), Rajesh (30 - driver of the van), Riddi ( 7) Meera Pandey (38) and Kushbu (20). The bodies were sent for post-mortem.