Trauma continued for the grieving family of software engineer Akshay Singh who perished in Wednesday’s Volvo bus mishap in Palem of Mahabubnagar district, 135 km from here, with another family claiming his body to be that of their kin, on Thursday.
Of the 45 bodies charred in the ghastly fire accident which occurred when a private bus bound for Hyderabad from Bangalore rammed a culvert and caught fire early on Wednesday morning, three were handed over to the families concerned by the Mahabubnagar district administration. Akshay’s family, which came to know about the mishap, rushed to the accident site and claimed the body after identifying it with the help of the blue jeans he was wearing. “We spoke to Akshay’s friend in Bangalore, who dropped him at the bus stop on Tuesday night. With the details provided by him, we identified Akshay and claimed the body after informing the police,” said the victim’s brother Akash.
Even while they were returning home with the body, the police called and asked them to shift the body to Osmania General Hospital mortuary as another family from Kukatpally had approached them claiming that it was another passenger Shiva’s body.
Mahabubnagar Assistant Collector V. Vijayarama Raju said Shiva’s family claimed to have identified the body with the help of an ornament he was wearing. “In order to avoid the confusion between both families, we have preserved the body at the OGH mortuary and asked the families concerned to provide samples at the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) for the DNA test,” he explained.
Based on the DNA report, the body would be handed over to the family in coordination with the police after following the required procedures, he said.
The official also stated that among the three bodies identified, one body was identified through an identity card and two others with the help of a necklace and a pendant.
The remaining bodies are at the OGH mortuary for DNA profiling since they were burnt beyond recognition and they would be handed over to the families concerned after the results.
