The gory bus accident in the early hours of Wednesday near Palem on the Bangalore-Hyderabad National Highway which left 45 persons dead, shattered scores of families which lost sole bread-winners or beloved members.
Venkatesh, a former leader of Praja Rajyam, was on his way to Hyderabad from Bangalore along with his elder sister to distribute wedding invitations of their younger sister. Both of them died in the accident.
Priyanka, daughter of Mohan Rao, District Judge at Mahabubnagar , who was travelling to Hyderabad, died. Priyanka, who was a software professional, preferred to be a homemaker. Her father could recognise the body with the help of a chain she wore and accepted the body after inquest and post-mortem.
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As the identification of the bodies by the relations proved to be difficult, officials decided to shift them to the mortuary at the Osmania General Hospital for DNA test. The close family members were asked to report in Hyderabad for DNA sampling.
Ravi, a software professional, was proceeding to Hyderabad to take up his new assignment. Giridhar, General Manager in Ramco Group of companies, who was travelling along with his wife, Vasanthi died.
As the bus originated from Bangalore, revenue and police officials from Raichur in Karnataka arrived at the scene to help the victims and their families from the State. They repeatedly appealed to the victims to take their help in identification of the bodies or shifting them to their native places.
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Another deceased — Prasad Gupta — hailed from Uttar Pradesh where his family lived. Officials said the body could be handed over only to close family members whose presence was required.
Police officials monitoring the situation said negligence on the part of the driver led to the accident.
Minister for Information D.K. Aruna was the first official representative of the government to arrive on the scene and she stayed back till the evening. Collector Girija Sankar, SP Nagendrakumar camped at the place and supervised the rescue operations.
Nizamabad Staff Reporter adds: A pall of gloom descended on the tiny village of Devunpally under Kamareddi mandal when they received news of Vedavathkumar of the village having been burnt alive in the Jabbar Travels bus.
Kusuma Vithal and Susheela, parents of Vedavathkumar (29) are yet to recover from the shock. Susheela’s condition is serious and she is in the ICU of a private hospital in Kamareddi.
The deceased is survived by his wife Swarnalatha who is four months pregnant.
After completing his MBA, Vedavathkumar joined a private company in Benguluru and wanted to come to his native place to celebrate Diwali.