Daughter Dies, Father Hurt in Bus Mishap
He and his son, who was also on the bike, survived the accident.
Hyderabad:A helpless father witnessed the death of his 14-year-old daughter, who was crushed by a bus at Jubilee Hills on Saturday while he tried to avoid a portion of waterlogged road and an illegally parked high-end car. He and his son, who was also on the bike, survived the accident.
Kanchi Pullaiah had picked up his two children and was heading home on his bike. “An RTC electric bus (TG10T1451) came recklessly from behind. I moved my bike to the left to give way, but lost balance due to waterlogging on the road. The bus and my bike were parallel when I spotted a white car (TS 07 JP 5865) illegally parked on the right side,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
“In panic, I applied brakes to avoid hitting the car. The bus swerved and hit my daughter’s school bag, causing us to fall. By the time I tried to get up, my daughter was crushed under the rear wheels.”
Pullaiah recalled losing consciousness after witnessing the death of his daughter, Kanchi Keerthika, 14, a Class VIII student of Government High School, Vengal Rao Nagar. Passers-by helped him and rushed his injured son, who suffered a broken arm, to a private hospital. “After an hour, I realised I too had bleeding injuries,” he said, with tears in his eyes.
He demanded legal action against the RTC bus driver, the car owner for negligent parking, and GHMC officials for failing to maintain the road free of waterlogging.
Pullaiah, a resident of Road No. 58, Jubilee Hills, works as a watchman. Two years ago, he moved with his wife Sunita and children from Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad, seeking a better life.
Jubilee Hills sub-inspector K. Rama confirmed that the bus driver was detained, CCTV footage is being examined, and both the bus and high-end car have been seized. Police shifted Keerthika’s body to OGH hospital for postmortem before handing it over to her parents, who have left for their native place to perform the last rites.