India’s worst bus accident claims 57 lives in Telangana

HYDERABAD: In the worst bus accident in India, 57 people were killed and 31 others injured, six of them critically, after an overcrowded Telangana State Road Transport Corporation bus swerved off a ghat road and hurtled 30ft down into a valley at Sanivarampet village of Kondagattu mandal in

Jagtial

district on Tuesday. Among the dead were 39 women, four children and the bus driver.


The ill-fated bus belonging to Jagtial depot was jam-packed with 87 passengers. It was returning to Jagtial from Kondagattu, the hill shrine of Lord Hanuman. The mishap occurred when the driver, Srinivas, lost control of the bus—he reportedly failed to slow down as he did not notice a speedbreaker.

Driver took ghat road to reduce drive by 2km

The driver Srinivas, who had received a TSRTC commendation certificate for meritorious service on Independence Day, had taken the ghat road to reduce the distance by 2km.

Jagtial depot manager Hanumantha Rao has been suspended following the accident.

Srinivas reportedly failed to slow down the vehicle as he could not notice a speedbreaker on the road. When the bus hit the bump at a certain speed, Srinivas lost control over the wheel, resulting in the mishap. The vehicle overturned four times on the road before falling onto the valley. It is believed that most of the passengers died due to suffocation as they fell over one another.

The state government was quick to announce an ex gratia of ?5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. The TSRTC also announced compensation of ?3 lakh each to the kin of the dead. Those injured would be provided free medical treatment.

Municipal and IT minister KT Rama Rao, who rushed to the spot, supervised rescue and relief operations by district officials.

The critically injured were shifted to Hyderabad and Karimnagar for better treatment.

Bodies were retrieved from the valley and shifted to Jagtial government hospital for identification and postmortem examination. The police have so far identified 45 of the deceased. Most of the dead were women above 40.

President Ramnath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP president YS Jaganmohan Reddy and several other leaders expressed grief over the fatal accident.

Modi described the tragedy as ‘shocking beyond words’. “The bus accident in Telangana’s Jagtial district is shocking beyond words. Anguished by the loss of lives. My thoughts and solidarity with the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover quickly,” Modi tweeted.