Hyderabad, Oct 31: The horrific bus fire in Mahabubnagar district Wednesday snuffed out many young lives, plunging their families into gloom on the eve of Diwali.
Some of them working in Bangalore were returning home to celebrate the festival of lights while some young software professionals were shifting to Hyderabad for a better career.
As many as 45 people were killed and five injured when the Volvo bus belonging to Jabbar Travels and coming to Hyderabad from Bangalore caught fire after hitting a culvert near Palem in Mahabubnagar district.
Majority of those on the ill-fated bus were in their 20s and 30s. Four women and a baby were among the dead.
Software engineer A. Ravi, 27, was one of the young professionals, whose dreams were cut short by the tragedy. He was coming to Hyderabad to join multinational company Accenture. Ravi, a native of Narsipatnam in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, was working in another company in Bangalore.
According to Ravi's friends, he was waiting for an offer letter from another multinational company in Bangalore and since it was delayed he decided to shift to Hyderabad and join Accenture.
N. Roohia, an employee of Info Technologies here, was another young software professional who lost her life in the mishap. She had gone to Bangalore for some work and was returning to the city.
Twenty seven-year-old K. Vedapati, working as an accountant in a bank in Bangalore, was coming home to celebrate Diwali. A native of Nizamabad district, he was married in November last year.
"He informed wife and parents that he is coming for festival but we received the shocking news this morning that the bus caught fire," said one of his relatives trying to identify him in the charred remains of the victims.
Akshay Singh, 28, a software engineer employed in Bangalore, was to come home Oct 26 for his birthday but postponed the visit so as to celebrate Diwali with his family in Hyderabad. A pall of gloom descended on his house at Chikkadpally here.
G.B. Sundara Raju, 54, and his wife Vijaya Kumari of Guntur district were among the victims. The couple, who was staying with his son in Bangalore, was on its way to Hyderabad for treatment.
Golf coach Yogesh Kumar is one of the five injured in the accident. According to doctors at DRDO Apollo Hospital, his condition is critical.
Bride loses mother and newborn her father
Tragedy struck a family in Bangalore that was preparing for a wedding as the bride's mother and uncle were among the passengers who were charred to death after the Hyderabad-bound bus caught fire early Wednesday.
Venkatesh Babu, 50 and his cousin Anita Kumar, 42 were on their way to Hyderabad to invite Telugu super star and Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi to the wedding.
Babu, who runs a small travel agency in Majestic area was an ardent fan and president of Akhila Karnataka Annayya Chiranjeevi Fans' Welfare Association for the past many years. Chiranjeevi had graced Babu's family functions in the past. Anita, lived with her family in Banasawadi. Her daughter Anusha was to get married on November 15. Babu was taking her to Hyderabad to invite Chiranjeevi for the wedding.
The family members were heart broken and inconsolable in the old fort area of Kalasipalya.
Sunder Raj, the octogenarian father of Babu said that the two were to actually scheduled to go to Hyderabad on Monday night. “But, they postponed it to Tuesday night because of heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh. They never returned.” Babu is survived by his wife Shanthi and three children. Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law and film producer Allu Arvind visited the family in Bangalore and expressed his condolences.
Colleagues among victims
It was the final journey for sub-contractors working with an engineering works firm in Bangalore. Of the five colleagues who were travelling by the ill-fated bus, four were burnt alive while the other was lucky to escape with minor injuries.
Sambashiva, an employee of Spectra Fab Engineers, said the company had got a new project in Hyderabad.
It had sub-contracted the glass work to K S Nanjunde Gowda, 29. Gowda left for Hyderabad with four of his employees, all labourers hailing from Uttar Pradesh, to take the measurement of the glass fittings for the building project.
Four labourers Jai Singh, 23, Sonu Kumar, 22, Ajay Kumar, 21, Vijay Kumar, 25 accompanied Gowda. Sambashiva said Jai Singh managed to break open the glass and escape from the burning bus.
Gowda hailed from Tungavvanahalli, Mulbagal taluk in Kolar, and had married Rajani only three years ago. The couple has a two-year-old son Likhith.
Farmer from Kanakapura
A farmer from Kanakapura was on his way to Hyderabad to see his newborn daughter. However, he could never see his bundle of joy. Chandrashekar, 41, a resident of Maralawadi village, Kanakapura was a silk farmer. He was married to Swathi, who hailed from Hyderabad.
Two brothers from Bangalore who were on their way to Hyderabad on a business trip are also among the dead.
Asif Ahmed, 26 and his elder brother Shouqib Ahmed, 28 ran an automobile spare parts shop in BTM Layout. They were residents of Guruppanapalya, BTM I Stage.
Family wiped out
A couple from Bangalore and their five-year-old physically-challenged daughter are among the dead.
Azmatullah, 35, his wife Zabina Taj, 25 and their daughter Usma Sultan, 5 were killed in the accident. Azmatullah, a resident of Hosagudadahalli, and his brother had the sub-contract for managing the parking lots at railway stations in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The family left for Hyderabad as Zabina's mother was unwell.
It was the last journey for young techies
For Priyanka (28), a software engineer living in Bangalore, the 30-kilometre distance from her bus and sweet home was short enough.
But, she was not reaching home to spend time with her parents on Wednesday morning, as the bus she was travelling by went up in flames.
Married and living with her husband in Bangalore, Priyanka called her parents before starting from the Silicon City on Tuesday night and her father Mahabubnagar district Special (SC-ST) Judge P Mohan Rao was waiting for her in the wee hours on Wednesday.
Her parents heard about the accident from a passing vehicle on National Highway 44 and called Priyanka's mobile phone, but found it dead.
It was only at 10 am, when the charred bodies of the 45 passengers were shifted to the tent for identification that the judge identified her daughter's remains by the golden bangles she wore.
Takkela Suresh 24, a resident of Machilipatnam in Krishna district was returning from Bangalore after attending a successful interview in HP where he had bagged a job with Rs seven lakh per annum salary.
He was also burnt alive in his sleep in the bus. “I received the sad news at 5.20 am,” said K Harish Rao, his father. Relatives found it hard to console 60-year-old Rakesh Gupta, a native of Faizabad, who had lost his 23-year-old son Prashanth in the accident.
“We both were supposed to leave for Delhi on Thursday by AP Express. He went to Bangalore in search of a job,” Gupta said.
Search for bodies
Sardar Ali, father of 24-year-old software engineer Farooq Ali, was unable to recognise his son's remains.
“Yesterday he was hired by IBM in Bangalore. He called me before boarding the bus. He was supposed to be sitting in seat D-5….Can anyone identify him?” Ali was seen asking the security personnel.
Asif Mohammad, also a software engineer, wanted his businessman-father Mohammad Abdul Khader to wait for him at Afzalgunj bus stand in Hyderabad.
“I have not told his mother so far. She can't take it,” an inconsolable Khader said. The officials collected the list of 33 passengers who had reserved their seats at the starting point in Bangalore, but the identities of passengers who boarded at different places remain unknown.
Representatives of Jabbar Travels said the bus departed from the travel agency's office around 10.30 pm before picking up passengers from different points in the City, including Mekhri Circle and Hebbal. Police said five passengers, besides the bus driver Firoz and cleaner Faiyaz, managed to jump out of the burning bus.
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