Four Ayyappa devotees were killed and 16 injured when a van in which they were travelling rammed into a tree in Jampani village in Bapatla district in Andhra Pradesh early on Monday.
Police said 23 devotees on their way back from the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala boarded the van after deboarding from a train at the Tenali railway station. They were on their way village Nilapudi in Krishna district.
Due to poor visibility and thick fog, the driver lost control of the van, resulting in the accident. The deceased were Bolishetti Panduranga Rao (40), Pasham Ramesh (55), Bodhina Ramesh (55) and Buddana Pawan Kumar (25).
The condition of three of the injured was said to be critical.