Four of a family charred to death

Bangalore, Oct 10: Four members of a family from the city died when a van in which they were travelling caught fire on National Highway 205 on the outskirts of Palamaner town on Wednesday morning.

Satyanarayana, Mahalakshmi, Prashanth Kumar and Deepa Mala

The victims—Satyanarayana, 52, his wife, Mahalakshmi, 45, and their children, Prashanth Kumar, 27, and Deepa Mala, 23—were residents of Sampangirama Nagar in Bangalore. They had gone to the temple town of Tirupati and were returning to the city when the accident occurred.

Satyanarayana, who was apparently driving the vehicle, Mahalakshmi and Deepa Mala who were asleep in the back seat were charred to death. Prashanth Kumar who was seated in the front seat managed to jump out. He was found with serious burns. He was rushed to hospital. Later, he also died.

A senior police official with Palamaner police station who visited the spot said the accident occurred around 4:10 am. By the time they alerted fire services and rushed to the spot, the police found the van's doors jammed.

Kanti Rana Tata, SP, Chittoor, said that the police were investigating the cause of the fire.

Autopsies were conducted on the three bodies at Chittoor Government Hospital. The bodies were handed over to the relatives of the victims on Wednesday afternoon.

Silence in the house that once brimmed with laughter

A large number of relatives and friends had gathered at the Sathyanarayana residence. Silence reigned as all of them sat together, unable to digest the news of the death of the entire family. Sathyanarayana's sister Yamuna said the family received the news of their death around 4.45 a.m. on Wednesday from the Palamaner police. They had left around 11 a.m. on Monday for Tirupati and were returning home when the accident occurred, she said. Murthy, a family friend, was the last person the family contacted before the tragic end.

“Around 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday, the family called me and said they had been waiting to get some fuel for their car since evening. They said they finally got some fuel and would leave after 1 a.m. so that they could reach by 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning,” he said.

Family business

Sathyanarayana had been running the family business, Venkateshwara Textiles, along with his younger brother Srinivas. Prashant, an engineering graduate, had joined his father in managing the business while Deepa Mala was a student of JD Institute of Fashion Technology.

She had completed her degree in Business Management and hoped to be a part of the textile business later.

It was Prashant's cousin Keerthi, who first received the news of their death and informed the family.

“The police called Sathyanarayana's father. As both he and his wife were sleeping, Keerthi took the call. The inspector verified whether she could identify the car number and a few other details. Once she confirmed it, they conveyed the news of the family's tragic death,” said Aishwarya, a family friend.

A jovial family

She said the entire family was very friendly and jovial. “Prashant always had a knack of making friends wherever he went. He would even conduct handwriting classes in the house for students. He used to always plan activities and bring people together. In fact, he had been planning a birthday party for Keerthi the next Monday. But this happened,” she said on a sad note.

Sathyanarayana was the second of eight siblings — four brothers and four sisters. While the family is originally from Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, Sathyanarayana and his family had been in Bangalore city for more than 50 years.

He had lived in Wilson Garden earlier and had just moved to Sampangiramnagar last month. “Mahalakshmi was keen on living in their own house instead of a rented one and they had moved in only on September 8. Sathyanarayana's parents and his younger brother Srinivas, along with his family, have been living here for many years,” said Yamuna.

Relatives said that Sathyanarayana's family would go to Tirupati nearly 15 times a year. Sathyanarayana's father Venkatesh said he had told his son not to go, concerned about the bandh in Andhra Pradesh. But Sathyanarayana had convinced his father saying that they would not have any problem as they were going by their car. They had booked a room on the Tirupati hills in advance.