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Andhra bus tragedy: 'We are worried. There is no clarity here'
Distraught relatives of the victims, many of whom were from Bangalore, of the bus tragedy near Hyderabad that claimed 45 lives on Wednesday gathered at bus operator Jabbar Travels office in Lakdi-Ka-Pul area of the city, seeking information about their dear ones.
"When we enquired no details are being given. We are worried. There is no clarity here. They are still collecting the list from their Bangalore office," some of the relatives said.
Jabbar Travels claimed there was no problem regarding the fitness of the vehicle and they had all the valid documents.
"We have the valid permit, fitness certificate and insurance and the bus was being serviced every 25,000 km,” Jamil Jabbar from the transport operator's family told reporters.
Karnataka Transport Commissioner K Amarnarayana said the bus had fitness certificate till October 6, 2014, and also insurance and permit
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Andhra bus tragedy: 'We are worried. There is no clarity here'
A bus passenger, who survived the accident and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, said: "All passengers were sleeping when the bus caught fire. Some of us tried to break open the window glass. However, we were unable to do so. I immediately moved towards the emergency (exit) window and broke it and managed to jump out of the bus."
According to the bus cleaner, most of the passengers were sleeping when the accident took place.
The cleaner, who has been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad, said he was pulled out of the burning bus by the driver of a car passing through the area.
An eye-witness said he saw the bus going in flames at around 5.15 am and within 30 minutes it was reduced to ashes.
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Andhra bus tragedy: 'We are worried. There is no clarity here'
One of the passengers' friend said, "I learnt about the accident from news channels. I've been trying to get in touch with my friend but his number is not reachable."
A victim's relative said, "I've come here to find out what happened. My relatives were on the bus. Everyone at home is worried."
A victim's son said, "He was travelling in the bus when the fire broke out. He jumped out of the bus. He is safe."
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Andhra bus tragedy: 'We are worried. There is no clarity here'
Mahabubnagar District Collector Girija Shankar and District SP D Nagendra Kumar, who were supervising the rescue operation said, "The identification of the deceased will be determined after conducting DNA tests and collecting blood samples of the relatives.
"The mortal remains will be handed over the kin of the deceased after the DNA tests," the Collector said.
A team of doctors from GandhiHospital and Osmania GeneralHospital and forensic experts from Hyderabad rushed to the spot to conduct post-mortem of the bodies.
Police said they had collected the list of passengers from the private bus operators and found that the online booking list had names of 33 bus-passengers and other travellers may have boarded the bus later.
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