Bodies of Spanish tourists to be airlifted to Madrid

To be embalmed in Bengaluru

District Coordinator of Health Services (DCHS) P. Saralamma said on Saturday that the bodies of the four Spain nationals and an Anantapur-based bus driver, who died in an accident, were handed over to the management of the Rural Development Trust (RDT), a Spain-funded NGO in Anantapur, after post-mortem examination.

Dr. Saralamma told The Hindu that the RDT staff had arranged three ambulances from Anantapur to the Madanapalle hospital.

“After inquest and other police formalities, the four bodies of the Spanish nationals would be taken to Bengaluru for the process of embalming to prevent putrefying before airlifting to Madrid. There is no facility of embalming the bodies at the Madanapalle hospital. We had completed the post-mortem process by engaging a five-member medical team following the orders issued by the Collector,” she said.

However, the body of the driver of the vehicle Sadiq Ali would be taken to Anantapur and handed over to his family members.

Search on for driver

The Palamaner sub-division police had a tough time searching for the container driver (believed to be from Madurai in Tamil Nadu), who went absconding after the accident. The container was on its way to Mumbai from Chennai.

Deputy SP P. Shankar said that after the accident, its driver went absconding from the site.

“When we contacted the container owner in Vellore, he said the driver was also injured and was undergoing treatment in a hospital. The owner said he would himself bring the driver to the police. Later, the mobiles of both the owner and the driver did not work. We have seized the container with automobile parts,” he said. The police searched several private hospitals in Palamaner and Madanapalle for the “injured” driver.

Eyewitnesses informed the police that the container tried to negotiate a hairpin bend at Eedigapalle village and collided with the mini-bus. The mini-bus was mangled.