Kurnool Bus Fire: Survivor Recalls Harrowing Escape
A passenger recalls the bus fire ordeal and how they were saved by a good Samaritan and admitted to a hospital in Kurnool.
KURNOOL: Even as the bodies of the deadly bus fire accident, which took place on Friday morning near Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, are being identified, stories of those who survived the tragedy are being shared.
One survivor, M.G. Rami Reddy from East Godavari district, while speaking to Deccan Chronicle, said that had the driver alerted the passengers on time, the loss of lives could have been averted.
Recalling the sequence of events, he said that he was going to Bangalore from Hyderabad to visit his daughter, who was pursuing Law. “I was in deep sleep, and all at once I heard people screaming and shouting. The whole bus was filled with thick smoke and flames. Most of the passengers had come to the rear of the bus. I couldn’t see anything in the smoke. Suddenly, someone pulled me out of the window, and we managed to get away from the bus. By that time, the entire bus was in flames, and I could see people being burned alive inside the bus. Someone took us in an SUV and admitted us to a private hospital in Kurnool. I regained consciousness at 6 AM and immediately called my family and told them that I was safe,” he said.
Rami Reddy also rued the fact that even as the bus was burning, many vehicles passed by, but no one stopped to check on them, and neither could they locate the driver or the spare driver.
A passerby named Naveen from Hindupur was the Samaritan in disguise who stopped by and rescued Rami Reddy and six others and took them to Kurnool in his vehicle, and admitted them to a private hospital. Another eyewitness, Hyma Reddy, who was coming from Puttaparthi to Hyderabad, stopped after seeing the bus and informed the local police. Her video describing the carnage was shared on social media.
As per reports, 19 people were reportedly charred to death, and 25 people survived the bus accident that took place when a private sleeper coach travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru caught fire near Chinnatekuru village in Kurnool district after colliding with a motorbike around 3:30 a.m. on Friday.
