Passengers in Hell, Motorists Rush In As Saviours

Kurnool: A busy spot on NH-44 turned into an inferno in the dead of night, when dawn was still hours away.

The scene was the busy road near Chinna Tekuru in Kurnool district around 3 am. A private travel bus on its way from Hyderabad to Bengaluru catches fire after a collision with a motorbike. Within minutes, the bus is completely burnt, killing 20 people, including the motorcyclist, and injuring several others. The bus carried around 44 persons, including its passengers and two drivers.

Arriving first on the spot was Naveen, a motorist, who jumped into action. Traveling from Hindupur to Nandyal, he saw the bus up in flames. Gathering courage, Naveen stopped his car and rushed out to help save the passengers. He managed to rescue six passengers who managed to emerge out of the bus instantly by breaking the glass windows.

Naveen rushed them to the government hospital in his car. “The flames spread all around the bus, making it impossible to approach it,” he noted.

“I was asleep when I heard a loud sound,” said passenger Naveen Kumar, a software employee from Hayathnagar. “Flames spread everywhere, and people started shouting. Someone broke the glass beside me, and I jumped out. I still can’t believe I survived.”

Surya, another passenger who was traveling to Bengaluru for a job interview, said, “Suddenly, the bus was full of smoke. I heard children crying and people shouting for help. I broke the glass with my elbow and jumped out. My leg got fractured, but that pain is nothing compared to what I saw inside.”

K. Sheshagiri, former Grama Panchayat Sarpanch of Chinna Tekuru, said, “Sometime later, there were shoes, half-burnt bags and melted phones everywhere. It didn’t look like a bus. The scene looked like a cremation ground, ashes all around and flames lingering on the bus’s half-burnt skeleton. Many bodies were burnt beyond recognition — some still sitting, others near the exit.”

For Ruchita, a young software professional, survival felt like a miracle. “In a jiffy, I woke up, I was surrounded by fire. The heat was unbearable. Someone shouted to “break” the glass. I jumped and ran to a distance without looking back,” she said.

Haima Reddy, traveling from Puttaparthi to Hyderabad, stopped her car when she saw the burning bus and called the police. “When I saw the fire, I couldn’t bear the scene. Some were screaming, others were silent. I will never forget those moments,” she said.

Her quick action helped rescue teams reach the spot immediately. Police and emergency staff pulled survivors from the wreckage and took the injured to Kurnool government hospital.

Passenger Akash from Bengaluru said he broke the bus window and jumped out to escape. “Suddenly, there was a loud noise inside the bus. When I got up, I saw fire everywhere. I broke the window and jumped out,” he said.

Two others escaped with him through the same window.

Akash, who works as a sales executive in a paint company, was traveling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru after Diwali. Along with Akash, two other survivors — Ashwin Reddy and Kushwaha — were treated for their minor injuries at a nearby hotel by officials.

Another survivor, Suryanarayana, said it was like seeing hell. “In seconds, everything was gone. The fire covered the whole bus. It was like an inferno. People were crying and calling their families on their phones. It was impossible to help everyone out,” he said.