Qader had barely reached home having seen off his wife Bibi and Sabiya at the bus stop in Indrapalngar of Nalgonda district when his mobile phone began ringing.
He took the call only to hear that the bus his wife and daughter boarded minutes ago had met with an accident, half a kilometre away from the bus stop. He rushed to the spot on his bike. Joy of finding his wife alive, though with some bruises, was followed by the devastating news of his daughter’s death.
Along with the mother and daughter, another villager K. Swamy boarded the bus at the same stop. Fortunately, he too escaped with minor injuries. The bus normally comes around 4 p.m. to Indrapalnagar.
Many villagers heading for Nalgonda board this bus. “Today it arrived around 3.30 p.m. or 3.40 p.m. Had it come some time later, many teachers working in local schools and other villagers would have boarded the bus to reach for Nalgonda,” said local school head master Bikshapathi. That would have crowded the bus and resulted in more casualties, the villagers felt.
