A man who was presumed dead by his family and friends in the bus accident has returned home unhurt.
Syed Hafeez, 43, a resident of Yarab Nagar, is a scrap dealer who was among passengers on the bus to Hyderabad. On hearing the news of the tragedy, his family assumed that he was one of the casualties.
Hafeez, according to his uncle Ansar Pasha, used to visit Hyderabad regularly where he had a partnership with another scrap dealer, Azeem. However, Hafeez, who turned up late on Wednesday night, spoke to Deccan Herald about his miraculous escape.
Hafeez, who had a metal rod in his right leg following an accident couple of years ago, said he always sat in the front row to get sufficient leg room. He occupied seat 1A in the journey. He said he was on his way to buy scrap from Tata Motors that he had procured through a tender.
Hafeez, who offers prayers five times a day, had set his mobile phone alarm to 5 am, for the dawn prayer.
When the alarm roused him, they bus was near Jadcherla when he heard a huge explosion and smelt something burning. He recalled the bus cleaner rushing to wake up the passengers, shouting that there was a fire and asking everybody to evacuate the vehicle.
Deft escape
Hafeez, who jumped from the running bus through the open passenger door, said he hurt his head and was in a semi-concious state and could not hear the cries of people inside.
“They were burnt to death even before they could wake up,” he said, adding that flames, towering to the height of a three-storey building, had consumed the bus.
Hafeez added that a passerby revived him and put him on a van going to Kurnool, from where he caught an APSRTC bus destined for Bangalore and reached home.
Possessions destroyed
Though Hafeez had a miraculous escape, he, however, lost Rs 5 lakh in cash, meant as payment for the scrap. He had kept the money in a bag and had placed it on the shelf above his seat. The money and the bag were burnt to cinders.
