Confusion prevailed at the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) mortuary on Thursday when the relatives of passengers who died in Wednesday’s fire in a private Volvo bus in Mahabubnagar district, came to claim the bodies.
Irate family members surrounded officials demanding that they immediately hand over the bodies of their kin.
“We will end our lives if bodies are not handed over to us. How long do you take to complete the process? The inordinate delay is leading to problems for us,” relatives complained.
Mahabubnagar District Assistant Collector V. Vijayaramaraju tried to pacify the families, but of no avail.
He tried to convince relatives stating that the administration wanted to conduct the DNA test only to avoid confusion while handing over the bodies to families. Believing him, families gave samples at the A.P. Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) for DNA test.
Mr. Vijayaramaraju said that 41 samples were collected at the APFSL by Thursday evening and one family from Uttar Pradesh would be coming to the city on Friday to provide the samples.
“It would take at least eight days to get the report. Based on the DNA report, we will hand over the bodies,” said Mr. Vijayaramaraju. He added that the victims hail from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
The city police have also set up a help desk at the mortuary to furnish information about the victims.
Karnataka Transport Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy, who visited the mortuary on Thursday, said the incident occurred because of the driver’s negligence.
