Grocery dealer Vikram was at Ramannapet when he heard about the bus accident at Indrapalnagar in Nalgonda district, eight kilometres away.
Along with some local government officials, he rushed to the spot only to be shocked by the gory accident scene. “I was dumbstruck on seeing two passengers — a man and a woman — with severed heads. The driver was crushed and his head smashed,” recalled Vikram.
The lorry laden with books, apparently at high speed, rammed the RTC bus on the driver’s side. The collision impact tore off one side of the steel frame of the bus. While a baby girl got flung in the air with her head smashed, many got sandwiched between the lorry and the bus.
The bus turned and fell into a roadside ditch. “There were screams and shouts for help from the bus. The body of a woman was hanging through the window. Recuperating from shock, we brought in JCB machines to lift the bus from the ditch,” said villagers.
Narsimha, a private car driver, was travelling in another RTC bus which got stuck in the traffic jam following the accident. Along with others, he rushed to the accident spot. “I wanted to help shift the injured from the bus. But was too frightened to go closer to them on seeing the mangled bodies inside the bus,” he said trembling.
