Missing lorry, skeletons scooped out after 29 yrs
A cattle lorry with 10 persons on board, which was washed away in floods 29 years ago, has resurfaced when a stream was being dug up for sand.
The skeletons of three persons lying in the cabin of the lorry were taken out with the help of a bulldozer on Saturday.
On July 23, 1989, the lorry was crossing the bridge over the Irukulla stream in old Karimnagar district, proceeding towards Keshavapatnam from Peddapalli, when it was washed away by the rising flood waters.
Four persons, Mallesham, Yellaiah, Sudarshanam and Mogili, managed to swim to shore. The bodies of two others were found, but lorry owner Md Doulath Khan, his brother Mukhthum Khan, Katike Shankar and K. Mohan were missing. They were not declared dead and death certificates were not issued to their family members. A case had been registered in Karimnagar.
Police wants to send the skeletons for DNA tests before confirming their identities. However, family members identified the bodies from the clothes found on the skeletons.
Katike Shankar’s daughter Saritha said she was a child when the incident occurred and has been hoping that her father may have been saved and was living somewhere. Now that it is confirmed that her father is dead, the government should help out the families, Saritha said.
■ ON JULY 23, 1989, the lorry was crossing the bridge over the Irukulla stream in old Karimnagar districtwhen it was washed away by the rising flood waters.