A long wait for relatives of Haveri bus accident victims

The team from National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP) inspecting thecharred bus at Kunimellihalli in Haveri district on Friday. Photo: Sanjay Ritti

The relatives of the seven persons, who were charred to death in the Volvo bus near Haveri on Thursday, will have to wait for a week to receive the bodies of their loved ones. Those who died included five members of a family (among them were three children), the second driver of the bus, who was asleep in the trunk, and another passenger.

The bodies are beyond recognition and medical authorities have opted for DNA profiling.

The anxious relatives were told by the authorities that they could get the mortal remains only after DNA cross-matching is done, which would take at least a week. The dead include a furniture businessman from Mumbai, Kalim Ahmed Hamid Khan (46), who was in Bangalore on a tour, his wife, Shameem Banu (46), twins, Aman and Nooman (13), and six-year-old son Mohammad Kaif. The other two are Hemanth, a textile technician from Mumbai who was visiting Bangalore on a work-related assignment, and Nawaz Pasha, the second driver of the bus.

On Friday, eight relatives of Kalim Khan, including his brother, Mohamma Iqbal Khan, arrived at KIMS, and so did Hemanth’s brother, Shashikanth, a municipal corporation employee from Surat, and brother of Nawaz, Riyaz Pasha (also a driver).

Mr. Riyaz Pasha said that his brother was an experienced driver who had been in the profession for two decades. Mr. Nawaz was residing at Goripalya in Bangalore, with his wife and three children, and had joined National Travels four years ago. Mr. Riyaz Pasha said that Nawaz was scheduled to take over driving from the other driver at Shiggaon.

Meanwhile, all the four who suffered burns and another passenger with a fractured limb were discharged from KIMS hospital. KIMS Director Vasantha Kamath told

The Hindu that barring the woman with a fractured foot, the four with burns were in need of further medical treatment. “We told them to stay back. But, they said they would shift to other hospitals in Bangalore. So we discharged them,” she said.