ArHYDERABAD: Family members of those who met with the Friday night bus mishap at Araku went through a living nightmare throughout the night in Hyderabad, unable to know the gravity of the situation in Visakhaptnam.“Till Saturday evening, we didn’t know who was alive and who was dead,” said Patel Singham, who was still expecting to learn the condition of 23 members of his family after four of them were killed in the mishap.
For 24 hours after the incident, none of the family members could reach their loved ones battling for life at a hospital in Vishakapatnam because of poor telecom connectivity. “We were about to leave for Visakhapatnam on Friday night itself after learning about the tragedy, but the politicians who visited our home stopped us.
They said that the government would book a flight for us to Visakhaptnam. Legislator Maganti Gopinath said that he would arrange the 5 am flight on Saturday and take care of all expenses, but no tickets were handed over to us. Then we missed another flight in the morning. Finally, four tickets for our family members were booked for the 2.50 pm flight,” said Singham.
“We only know from the news that some of our family members are alive. We are constantly watching TV to spot them to see how they are. According to TV reports, eight are in critical condition with head and chest injuries,” another member of the family, K Prabhakar, said. “I saw them take my daughter-in-law on a stretcher for scans. I don’t know what condition she is in now,” he added.
“We could have reached there if the politicians did not confuse us. They make promises but fail to fulfil them. Although they have paid their condolences, it is not helping us and the victims who are fighting for life in the hospital. We want them to be responsible and help us reach our family immediately,” another family member said.