Hyderabad: For 18 members of a family, a 2,000km visit to the famous shrine in Ajmer of Khaja Moinuddin Chishti ended up in tragedy hours after the journey began.
Fourteen members of the family were killed on the spot as the mini bus carrying them hit a divider, jumped to the other side and rammed into another truck coming in opposite direction. The family had left Madanapalle town of Chittoor district on Saturday night. The deceased include 8 women, 5 men and a child.
The horrendous accident occurred on Hyderabad-Bangalore highway near Veldurthy in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh at 330 am on Sunday.
Four critically injured were admitted to the district hospital at Kurnool city. They were identified as Yasmeen, Asma, Qasim and Mushtaq, all below 12 years.
Heart rending scenes were witnessed at Kurnool government general hospital where a large number of mourners, including the relatives of the victims, had gathered.
Kurnool district superintendent of police K. Fakkeerappa told the media that the driver had apparently become drowsy and lost control over his mini bus resulting in the tragedy.
A sand-laden truck was going from Warangal to Annarapur district. Truck driver Farooq Basha said, “As soon as I spotted the mini bus jumping over the divider and moving towards the truck at high speed, I applied brakes. Still, the mini bus hit the truck and turned over many times.”
Giving his account of the incident, Farooq said that realising that there were a large number of people in the mini bus he raised an alarm to seek the attention of nearby villagers and they tried to help, but could not do much. Farooq also informed the police and ambulance over phone.
Fakkeerappa said that the family was travelling to Ajmer in Rajasthan. “They were on a pilgrimage to the famous shrine of Khaja Moinuinddin Chishti in Ajmer”, he said.
The impact of the crash was such that the tempo was completely crushed. “Bodies were retrieved with the help of a crane and cutters”, the SP added.
Meanwhile a pall of gloom had descended on the Madanapalle town of Chittoor district over the death of so many of its residents.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy expressed deep shock and anguish over the accident. He spoke to the district officials and directed them to extend all necessary assistance and make arrangements for the funeral. He also directed the administration to ensure proper treatment of the injured. He also announced ex gratia of Rs200,000 for each death.
Officials said that the bodies will be shifted to Madanqpalle after post-mortem and funerals will take place in the town.
President of India and Prime Minster Narendra Modi were among the top leaders who expressed their shock and grief over the large number of deaths.
For the small town this was second such big tragedy in three weeks.
It was on January 24, the town was left shocked by the brutal murder of two girls in their 20s by their own parents due to some superstitious beliefs.
