Majority of the victims in the Sunday’s ghastly accident near Challakere were labourers of Yadgir and Raichur districts heading to Bangalore in search of employment. These areas in Hyderabad-Karnataka region are still identified as backward and distress migration has become a norm for labourers here.
However, the job hunt this time remained unsuccessful. The accident put a full stop to the search.
“We should be at our place even with a morsel of food. I had not seen any place. This is the first time I ventured out and I lost my daughter-in-law,” wailed Venkamma (50) of Chowdasiral village.
All the passengers were asleep when the bus fell into the ditch. People piled up over one another and I was trampled upon, even as the flames were raging. Some how I came out, Venkamma recalled. She is being treated at the Challakere government hospital.
Basavaraj (25), who lost his wife, was weeping inconsolably with his two-and-a-half-year old son. “I had been to Bangalore twice earlier for masonry work and this time we were going together,” he said.
More poignant was the plight Basavaraj (9), who lost his parents in the mishap. “We were going to Bangalore for coolie work to discharge the loan borrowed for my sister’s marriage,” lachrymose boy of Lingasugur taluk said. There were none to wipe his tears at the hospital.
Mallanna, who was sitting in the third seat behind the driver said he was on the way to Anekal for masonry. He said he heard a loud thud and the bus burst into flames.
Another survivor Sharma Sab of Nagarhal thanks his fate for surviving the accident. His wife Peeramma who was sitting right behind the driver has also escaped unhurt.
The accident spot presented a gory scene with bodies charred beyond recognition. A child and her mother had embraced death in arms.
DH News Service
