I lost my three daughters: Telangana father’s heartbreak after deadly bus crash

Dubai: On what began as an ordinary Monday morning, the quiet town of Tandur in Telangana’s Vikarabad district was plunged into grief.

By sunrise, many residents had already sent their children and relatives off to Hyderabad for college or work.

Barely two hours later, word spread that the bus they were travelling in had been crushed in a horrific collision on the Chevella–Bijapur highway — leaving 19 people dead, most of them from Tandur.

What should have been a routine commute became a tragedy that emptied entire neighbourhoods. Shops stayed shut as families gathered outside the Government Hospital in Chevella, scanning lists of victims. Among them was Yellaiah Goud, unable to speak through his tears. “I have lost three daughters,” he said, as neighbours tried to console his wife, Ambika.

Yellaiah, who works as a driver, had dedicated his life to educating his children. He has four daughters — one of whom is married — while the other three died in the tragic collision, leaving the family shattered.

The three young women, all college students in Hyderabad, had come home over the weekend for a family wedding.

“They were full of laughter when they left that morning,” recalled their relative Narasimha. “The eldest, Anusha, had just got married last month.” According to The Indian Express, the family was in high spirits before the tragedy struck.

Among the victims was 33-year-old Saliha Begum and her three-month-old baby boy. “The mother was still holding the child when the gravel was cleared,” said rescue worker Savitri. A cousin, Shaukat, told The Indian Express that Saliha had been on her way to visit her grandparents in Hyderabad.

The accident occurred near Mirzaguda-Khanapur Road in Ranga Reddy district when a speeding gravel-laden truck rammed into a Telangana Road Transport Corporation (RTC) bus travelling from Tandur to Hyderabad. The front half of the bus was crushed, and tons of gravel spilled inside, burying passengers alive.

One survivor said he was dozing when a deafening crash jolted him awake. “I was half-buried in gravel. I broke a window and escaped with six others,” he said. “Those sitting behind the driver couldn’t make it.”

Police said there were 72 passengers on board, including the driver, who died on the spot. Rescue teams used earth-movers to clear the mangled bus, while doctors at the Chevella hospital treated survivors for fractures and internal injuries.

Among the dead was N. Hanumanthu, who had missed an earlier train and boarded the bus instead. He is survived by his 10-year-old son Vivek, who wept as relatives held him close.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow and announced ₹2 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured from the PM’s Relief Fund. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy called the crash “heart-wrenching” and ordered relief operations on a war footing.

As Tandur’s narrow lanes filled with funeral processions, grief united an entire town. “They all left home smiling,” a neighbour said quietly. “None of them came back.”