Forensic teams that reached Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool have collected samples from relatives of 17 of the 19 passengers who died in the bus mishap that took place in the early hours of Friday, officials said Saturday.
Family members of a victim from Bihar were yet to arrive in Kurnool. One victim remained unidentified, and his name is not on the list of passengers, officials said, adding that he likely boarded at some point by paying a fare to the driver.
Nelakurthi Ramesh, who is one of the survivors and whose friend Golla Ramesh and family died in the tragedy, said, “We have been told to collect the bodies after 48 hours, after the DNA testing is done. Some have identified the bodies based on semi-melted jewellery, but have been asked to wait till the testing is over. They said we should wait for their call to go and collect the bodies.”
Some of the family members of victims have decided to stay in Kurnool until they get the bodies, while others have gone back to their villages and come back when called to collect the remains of their loved ones.
Officials are trying to hasten the processes as the severe Cyclone Montha is headed towards Andhra Pradesh and, according to weather forecasters, will start affecting normal life from October 26 onwards.
The IMD has warned that the Rayalaseema region, where Kurnool is located, will receive extreme heavy rainfall (over 210 mm in 24 hours) on October 27 and 28. The Andhra Pradesh government has issued an advisory to people to stay indoors during the two days.
The AC sleeper bus, which began its journey from Hyderabad to Bengaluru on Thursday night, ran over a motorcycle in the early hours of Friday, rupturing its fuel tank and causing a fire. While 19 passengers died, 27 escaped from the burning bus, officials said.
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The names of the identified deceased have now been released. They included Philemon Baby and her son, Kishore Kumarfrom Bengaluru. Baby had visited her daughter in the Patancheru area of Hyderabad, and her son had come from Bengaluru to take her back home. The other victims include Prashnath of Tamil NaduArgha Bandopadhay of Hyderabad, Yuvan Shankar Raj of Tamil Nadu, Meghnad from Telangana, Amrit Kumar from Bihar, Sandhya Rani and her daughter Chandana of Medak in Telangana, M Anusha Reddy of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district in Telangana, Giri Rao from Hyderabad, and Kengua Deepak Kumar of Odisha. Golla Ramesh, his wife Anusha, and two children, who were from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, were also among the victims.
Kurnool police teams investigating the accident have determined that the bus ran over a motorcycle that had already been involved in an accident. B Siva Shankar (24), who was driving the bike with his friend riding pillion, had purportedly fallen and died after the bike skidded on the wet road during the rainy night. The bus later ran over the bike that was lying on the road.
The driver of the bus, Miryala Lakshmaiah, is still absconding, while the second driver G Siva Narayana, who had been sleeping at the time of the accident, is in police custody and is assisting in the investigation, officials said.
