Tirumala: Ten pilgrims had a miraculous escape on Sunday when their vehicles went off the road in two separate accidents on Tirumala ghat roads.

In the first incident an Innova SUV went off the road and stopped in a culvert used for rain water. The accident took place about one kilometer from Alipiri toll gate on the first ghat road. Three people were injured and were shifted to Ruia hospital in Tirupati. Their identity is yet to be ascertained.

The driver of the Karnataka-registered vehicle apparently had no experience of driving on ghat roads and was said to be overtaking a state transport bus when the accident took place, eyewitnesses said.

Fellow pilgrims helping the injured at the Innova vehicle that rammed retention wall and came to a halt in a rain water culvert.

In the second incident, a Tata Sumo vehicle carrying seven passengers and their driver overturned about three to four times after it fell off the second ghat road. Eye witnesses said that the vehicle was prevented from fall off the hills by the presence of trees.

It came to a halt about 60 feet from the ghat road. Other pilgrims who were following the ill-fated vehicle stopped their car and rushed to pull out the pilgrims from the overturned car. The injured were initially rushed to Ashwini Hospital on the Tirumala Hills. The condition of four of the seven pilgrims was stated to be critical. They were then shifted to Ruia hospital in Tirupati. The seven pilgrims have been identified as Venkatesh, Sandhya, Nagendra, Girish, Mega, Kulkarni, Siva, Prakash and their Nagaraju.