HYDERABAD: The families of the six passengers from Telangana who perished in the blaze were struggling to come to terms with the loss on Friday.
The victims from Telangana were identified as Argha Bandopadhyay (23), Meghanadh (25), Anusha (22), Giri Rao (48), Sandhya Rani (43) and her daughter Chandana (23). All were travelling to Bengaluru in the ill-fated bus.
Anusha, a software engineer from Vastakonduru village in Yadadri district, had gone home to celebrate Diwali and was returning to Bengaluru. “She called her parents before boarding the bus at Khairatabad,” said her uncle. “By morning, the news we received was unbearable.”
Meghanadh, 25, had secured his first job in Bengaluru just five months ago. His family said he spoke to them before departure. “In the morning his phone was switched off. Later, we got the news we feared most,” a relative said.
PM, CMs express shock at loss of life
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased from Telangana and Rs 2 lakh for the injured.
His Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently in the UAE, also declared compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh for the injured.
Anitha said both drivers were taken into custody for questioning. Sixteen forensic teams have been deployed for DNA and other analyses.
She said the government was probing the accident from all angles—mechanical, human, and regulatory.
Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy described the tragedy as a grim reminder of road safety lapses.
He said new buses have fire alarm systems, but the ill-fated vehicle, seven years old, lacked the feature. “This is the third such incident in recent months. We are working with Telangana, Karnataka and the Union Ministry of Road Transport to introduce stricter inter-state bus safety norms,” he said.
Fire guts car near ORR
Sangareddy: A car was gutted by fire near Muttangi, close to ORR, on Friday. Police said a family of six from Siddipet was travelling to Shankarpally in Rangareddy district to attend a function when smoke suddenly began to emerge from their vehicle.
Alerted by a passerby, the family quickly got out of the car moments before it was entirely engulfed in flames. Fire personnel rushed to the scene and brought the blaze under control. Patancheru police have registered a case and are investigating the cause of the fire.
Serial violator
The Kaveri Travels bus has 16 challans pending in Telangana alone, worth `23,000. However, the ill-fated bus had all valid fitness, permit and insurance documents, according to officials.
