BENGALURU: At least six people with links to Karnataka died in the bus inferno that claimed 19 lives in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district in the early hours of Friday.
Officials said Philomen Baby (64) and Kishore Kumar (41), both residents of Karnataka, were killed in the blaze, while four members of a family living in Kammanahalli in Bengaluru were also killed in the fire.
They have been identified as Ramesh (35), his wife Anusha (30) and their children Manish (12) and Manvitha (10). Hailing from Nellore, Ramesh had been working in a private company in Bengaluru for nearly 15 years.
Though there were reports that four more people working in the IT sector in Bengaluru were also killed in the tragedy, no official confirmation was available.
I was unable to save anybody, says survivor
Five others from the state - Harika and Mohammed Khaizar from Bengaluru, Shiva from Ballari, and Pankaj and Akash from Bidar - had a narrow escape. Some of them are being treated for injuries.
Survivors who spoke to the media in Bengaluru described terrifying moments. Akash, a salesman in a paint manufacturing company, who was travelling to the city from Hyderabad, said he managed to escape in five seconds. “I was unable to save anybody. I get shivers thinking of the inferno. I boarded the bus around 10.30 pm. A co-passenger woke most of us,” he narrated.
“We heard a loud thud that comes from an accident. None of us were aware that the bus driver had hit a bike rider. Left side door and the front portion of the bus was on fire as diesel had spilt on the road. Both the driver and his assistant were trying to douse the blaze by throwing water. If the driver had alerted the passengers, all of us would have been alive. I jumped after breaking the glass window of the driver’s door.
Three others followed me. Just 5-10 seconds after we came out, the entire bus caught fire. We could not fathom what was happening. We could not help anybody as the entire bus was on fire,” he narrated.
He said, “From the back emergency exit around 12 passengers must have escaped. I feel terrible that I could not help others. I was returning to Bengaluru after celebrating Deepavali. It was a rebirth for me.”Another survivor, Venu Gunda, a techie from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, said, “I could not break the glass, while another passenger did and we both jumped out of it.”
He said, “There was no emergency hammer. Since it was an air conditioned bus, all the glasses were sealed and most passengers were stuck inside. Some passengers were seen lying on the road as they were unable to move because of burns. It started raining at the same time. At the time of the fire, there were two big explosions. The driver of another bus allowed me to board the vehicle and he dropped me in Bengaluru,” Gunda told.
Khaizar, who is in hospital, is being treated for injuries in his shoulders and feet as he hurt himself while escaping, one of his relatives said.
