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Charred remains of 18 people killed in the bus fire tragedy near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh have been handed over to their families after DNA tests, officials said on Sunday, October 26. The body of one unidentified passenger has been preserved at the GGH in Kurnool.
After conducting DNA tests during the last two days, the authorities at Government General Hospital (GGH) in Kurnool handed over the remains to the families. They were also issued death certificates.
Kurnool District Collector A Siri supervised the process of handing over the remains along with death certificates. The authorities arranged ambulances to transport the bodies to their respective hometowns.
The remains of the victims were handed over to their families – six each from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, two each from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and one each from Odisha and Bihar.
While one body remained unidentified, a person from Chittoor district has approached the police, saying his father may be one of the victims of the bus tragedy.
Kurnool SP Vikrant Patil said a DNA test would be conducted to establish the identity of the body.
The private bus, carrying 46 people, including two drivers, en route to Bengaluru from Hyderabad, met with the ghastly accident near Chinnatekur village on the outskirts of Kurnool between 3 - 3.15 am on October 24, Friday.
While 19 passengers, including two children, were charred to death, 27 passengers, including both drivers, escaped by breaking glass windows.
Police investigation revealed that the bus ran over a motorcycle lying on the road after the rider rammed it into the road divider. The bus dragged the bike for about 200 metres, and the friction and fuel leakage from the bike ignited a massive fire, which quickly engulfed the entire bus.
Police concluded that bike rider B Shiva Shankar (22) died after hitting the divider while his friend Erriswamy alias Nani, who was riding pillion and escaped with minor injuries, fled the scene in panic after watching the bus in flames.
After establishing the presence of a second person and identifying him with CCTV footage recorded at a petrol pump a few minutes before the accident, the police arrested Erriswamy from his native village, Tuggali.
Shiva Shankar, who was riding the bike, died on the spot after the two-wheeler reportedly skidded and rammed into the road divider.
Erriswamy told the police that after the bike skidded and rammed into the road divider, Shiva Shankar died on the spot. He said he shifted Shiva Kumar to the roadside and was about to move the bike lying in the middle of the road when the speeding bus hit the bike and dragged it for a distance. As the fire engulfed the bus, he said he panicked and fled the scene.
According to police, Shiva Kumar is suspected to have been drunk, which apparently led to the bike accident, and the two-wheeler eventually led to the accident that resulted in the death of 19 bus passengers.
Meanwhile, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on a complaint by one of the passengers.
Bus driver Miriyala Lakshmaiah and the owner of V Kaveri Travels, Vemuri Vinod Kumar, have been booked under relevant sections of BNS.