'We pleaded with driver to slow down'

The annual joy trip will keep haunting us for the rest of our lives, the survivors of Udupi’s ghastly accident said bitterly.

Nine among the 36 employees of Mysuru-based Century Vital Records Private limited lost their lives when the bus speeding from SK (South Kanara) border towards Mala near Karkala crashed against the jutting boulders at Abbas-Kattingeri. Many survivors were still in a daze and unable to come to terms with the death of their friends and colleagues.

“Nooo…” screamed Maria Sharon. “I cannot narrate anything. Leave me alone,” she cried with folded hands.

“Our future is blank,” said an inconsolable Shivanna, who came to collect his son Basavaraj’s (24) body at Karkala government hospital mortuary.

“Basava was employed as a cook and went wherever he was invited. He joined the employees on the trip,” the father informed in a choked voice.

“We depend on agriculture and as Basava was supporting the family, we have lost everything,” Shivanna said.

Thejomurthy from Mysuru said he had come on behalf of Rakshitha’s parents to take possession of the body. The family is totally shattered and are not in a position to collect it. “It is a huge tragedy that all those who lost their lives were very young,” Rakshitha’s uncle said.

Jagadish, who was discharged from the Karkala government hospital on Sunday, recollected that he was fast asleep.

“I vividly recollect that I felt my heart stopped on hearing the sound of the bus crashing against the boulders,” he said shuddering in horror. He said they had visited Horanadu, Kalasa and were on their way to visit Dharamastala or Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt.

“We work as data entry operators. And we had dreams as the job promised a rewarding career,” he said.

Preetishree considers herself fortunate to be alive. She was seated in the front on the left side of the bus when the accident took place. “My fate would have been different If I was seated on the right side,” she said.

Preetishree recollects that in Kalasa the bus staff took nearly three hours for replacing the tyres. “The driver was driving the bus rashly and we repeatedly kept pleading him to slow down due to the winding roads. The accident happened when the bus overtook a truck and the driver lost control,” she recollected with grief.

Karkala rural police station registered a case. The driver also had lost his life in the accident. Karkala rural police stated that due to rash driving the bus had crashed against the boulders.