At least eight people were killed and over 40 injured in a ghastly road accident in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Sunday. The incident happened late on Saturday night when the private bus they were travelling in fell into a valley on the Ghat road near Bhakarpet while negotiating a steep curve, the police added.

The victims belonged to Anantapuramu district and were on their way to a wedding engagement scheduled for Sunday morning. Over-speeding resulted in the accident, a senior police official said. As it was pitch-dark, the rescue operation took a lot of time. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Ch V Appala Naidu and a team of police personnel rushed to the spot and pulled out the injured persons using ropes and shifted them to RUIA hospital in Tirupati.

Later, the bodies of the deceased were extricated from the accident site. The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and others expressed grief over the accident.