52 DIE IN TELANGANA BUS TRAGEDY
TRAGEDY Initial probe shows staterun vehicle was not in proper condition; administration announces suspension of depot’s manager
Thirty-six women and five children were among 57 pilgrims who were killed when an overloaded state-run Road Transport Corporation (RTC) bus they were travelling in fell into a 30-feet gorge in Telangana’s Jagitial district on Tuesday.
Telangana finance minister Etela Rajender said the bus was packed beyond its capacity with 88 passengers. “The injured are undergoing treatment at a Jagitial government hospital, where the condition of some of them is said to be serious,” he said.
Police said the pilgrims were returning from the Lord Hanuman temple atop Kondagattu hill in Sanivarampet.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao announced ₹5 lakh compensation each for the families of those killed in the accident.
Police suspect the brakes of the bus failed while its driver was negotiating a downhill turn around 11.30 am. “Most of the deaths seem to have occurred due to suffocation, as the passengers fell over one another,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
Jagitial regional transport officer N Narender said the bus was in perfect condition and the accident could have happened due to negligence.
A prima facie inquiry revealed that the bus lacked proper fitness, the police said.
Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao, who flew to Jagitial along with his sister and MP, K Kavitha, and transport minister, P Mahender Reddy, announced the suspension of the Jagitial bus depot manager for allowing the bus to be ply without checking its fitness.
All the bodies have been recovered from the bus. The local residents were the first to respond. They rushed to rescue the passengers trapped inside the bus before Jagitial collector Sharath and superintendent of police Sindhu Sharma arrived at the scene to take up rescue operations. President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to express grief over the accident.
Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan also expressed shock over the bus accident and offered his condolences to the members of the bereaved families.
The governor said he is pained by the loss of precious lives and injuries to several passengers in the accident, a Raj Bhavan release said.
The governor has spoken to the district collector and said immediate relief measures be taken up to provide necessary medical treatment to those injured, the Raj Bhavan release added.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Congress workers in the area must provide all necessary assistance to those in need of help. My thoughts and prayers are with the injured and the families of those who have died.”