A pall of gloom descended at a house in this hamlet, whose inmates celebrated the marriage of a kin in the adjoining district earlier in the day and were returning home by an ill-fated lorry that came in contact with high tension wires, resulting in the death of seven persons.
The green leaves that were tied to the door at the entrance of the house of Dhanji Ram Naik in Chowkanpally gram panchayat were still fresh when the tragedy struck the family returning home.
Six persons from this house, including the head of the family Dhanji Ram Naik (50), Ramulu Naik (45), Vinod Naik (25), Srinivas Naik (15), Luv Naik (25) and Kishu Bai (30), lost their lives in the accident that took place at Devulu Naik thanda under Degulvadi panchayat limits on Sunday night. Another person who died was Ashok Naik of Angigram tanda.
After performing the marriage at Nandivada thanda in Tadwai mandal of Nizamabad district in the afternoon, the marriage party was returning to its native village in the evening by a lorry carrying 42 persons.
The driver apparently did not pay heed to the alert sounded by some of the passengers and continued driving the lorry at high speed till it reached the low lying electric wire.
Giving an eyewitness account, Degulvadi sarpanch Shivaji said he immediately alerted locals and lifted the power lines with the help of wooden poles which saved the lives of 35 persons.
“It was the negligent driving of the driver that caused the accident. While seeing the lorry coming in the direction of the wires, I shouted at the driver to stop but he did not hear. When the passengers shouted, he stopped the lorry right under the power lines”, Mr. Shivaji told The Hindu pointing to the black marks of hands left on the wires.
The accident spot was less than a kilometre from the thanda.
They could have as well walked the distance abandoning the lorry if the danger was perceived.
“I was with my brother Luv Naik in the lorry and tried to save him. He died while bidding goodbye forever,” said Bablu, a 13-year boy.
