HYDERABAD: Two days after the collision between a gravel-laden tipper and a TGSRTC bus that claimed 19 lives, the tipper owner, Lachiram Naik, claimed that the accident occurred not because of his vehicle but due to the bus overspeeding.
Lachiram, who survived with major injuries, said he had handed over the vehicle to driver Akash Dhanya Kamble (23) before the journey. Speaking to local reporters, he recalled, “Just a few seconds before the accident, the tipper driver told me that a bus was coming towards us. I was asleep at that time. He woke me up, saying the bus was heading straight at us — but before I could react, the collision had already happened.”
Responding to speculation that a pothole caused the bus to swerve, he said, “People are saying the bus came into our lane because of a pothole and hit us.” Remembering his driver, Naik added, “He was a good person and not an alcoholic,” before breaking down in tears.
The incident occurred on Monday morning when a gravel-laden tipper lorry rammed a TGSRTC bus near Mirzaguda village in Chevella mandal of Rangareddy district, killing at least 19 people, including 14 women and a 10-month-old baby, and injuring 25 others.
Police said the tipper, carrying gravel from Lakdaram in Patancheru to Manneguda, was overloaded and speeding when its driver swerved abruptly to avoid a pothole, veered into the wrong lane, and crashed into the oncoming bus carrying 72 passengers, though its capacity was only 35.