Passengers were buried under the gravel, recounts survivor

One passenger said they struggled in vain to remove the gravel with their bare hands, trying to create space for those who were immobilized by the mounds of stones

Hyderabad: If fire claimed lives in the recent bus accident at Kurnool, on Monday, it was mounds of gravel that buried and snuffed out the lives of several passengers at Tandur.

On the packed bus to Hyderabad, most passengers were in a doze in the early hours, unaware of the disaster awaiting them at Mirzaguda in Chevella. A gravel-overloaded truck came hurtling toward the bus, crushing several lives and leaving the survivors with a nightmarish experience.

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As a survivor of the accident recounted to the media, the passengers were jolted out of their slumber by the impact. While the truck ripped into a part of the bus, gravel from the truck poured into the bus, burying several passengers. Tragic scenes unfolded, with a woman’s hand seen protruding from the gravel mound and another woman, a young teacher, left immobile as the gravel piled up to her waist.

A total of 19 passengers perished in the accident, while several others were injured and shifted to a hospital for treatment. The tales that emerged at the crash site were heartbreaking. The accident claimed the lives of three young sisters, left two little girls orphaned, and killed a girl student who was returning to the city to participate in a sports event. Among the victims were also a woman, her father, and her daughter.

Local villagers rushed to the spot, and the survivors joined in to help those trapped in the mangled bus. One passenger said they struggled in vain to remove the gravel with their bare hands, trying to create space for those who were immobilized by the mounds of stones.

Grief-stricken families of the victims wept inconsolably at the accident site on the Chevella-Hyderabad road.