When Datla Sambaiah, the boat driver, was ferrying tourists in the Hussainsagar lake on Saturday evening, he saw a speed boat heading towards his mechanised boat. Though he shut off the engine and brought his machine to a halt, there was a collision, which unbeknownst to him, led to the death of Bakthawar Rana.
“The speed boat just hit my mechanised boat and went some distance ahead and halted. The tourists on board and I were scared that our machine was damaged. Fearing that the boat would sink due to damage, I called for a jetty and got everyone out safely,” recalled Sambaiah.
Claiming that he was not at fault for the collision, which led to the death of Ms. Rana, he got a letter stating the same signed by five passengers who were on the boat on Saturday. “In fact, I even returned and checked my mechanised boat for damage, but there was none.
A native of Warangal district, Sambaiah said that after the collision, the speed boat had gone about half a kilometre ahead and stopped. “The other boat hit us at high speed. None of us even thought that something had happened on it, because we were worried about our own safety,” he mentioned.
