Death was instant for 17-year-old Avinash Reddy. The Intermediate first year student was in a tearing hurry to get off a state transport corporation bus and crushed to death under the wheels at Begumpet. Two other students were also killed after an RTC bus hit their motorbike at Ibrahimpatnam on Thursday.
Avinash’s death was not an isolated incident as nearly 1,500 people had been killed in various road accidents in and around the city last year and the dance of death in the city continues unabated.
It was as if tragedy chased the young Avinash, who boarded bus (route no. 10H) opposite Shopper’s Stop at Begumpet to reach Ameerpet. On being told that it would go inside Begumpet, he rushed to the door located in the middle of the bus.
“Apparently, he wanted to disembark the bus fast and jumped from the footboard from the running bus near the Government Women’s College,” the Begumpet Sub-Inspector, Devadanam, said. In the rush, he slipped and came under the rear wheels. Avinash was studying in a private residential college at Nizampet.
He was returning to his college after visiting his uncle’s house at Alwal when the accident occurred.
The traffic police officials felt the teenager’s death could have been averted had the driver and the students taken precautions.
Making a dash
“The mad rush to reach destinations while driving vehicles and getting into and off the buses in a hurry result in these unfortunate deaths,” remarked Venkateshwar Rao of Brahmanwadi. Recalling the recent death of a motorbike rider and his sister after being hit by a truck at Begumpet, he felt their lives could have been saved if the vehicle drivers were cautious.
Avinash hailed from Sirkapally village in Huzurabad in Karimnagar district.
A police officer said 39 persons were killed in accidents borne out of their own callousness like hitting medians or roadside trees. Statistics of traffic police indicate that RTC buses caused 264 accidents out of the 2,358 reported till November-end in 2012.
Tragic end
Close on the heels of the tragic death of Avinash, came the shocking deaths of an M.B.A. student U. Naveen, 21, and his friend V. Vijay Kumar Reddy, 20, an engineering graduate. They were killed when an oncoming RTC bus hit the bike they were riding at Ibrahimpatnam. The duo were childhood friends.
Naveen was going to his college at Chintalpally when the RTC bus ploughed into their two-wheeler opposite Kallem Janga Reddy Function Hall near Bonguluru Gate. The grievously hurt youngsters were rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to their injuries en route.
