Deadly Andhra Bus Fire Claims 19 Lives, Owner Arrested

In a tragic incident that occurred two weeks ago, a bus fire in Andhra Pradesh has claimed the lives of 19 passengers, including two children. The private bus, which was traveling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, met with the accident near Kurnool early on October 24th.

The bus owner, Vemuri Vinod Kumar of V. Kaveri Travels, has now been arrested and produced before a court, which has remanded him to judicial custody. He is accused of negligence, along with the bus driver Miriyala Lakshmaiah, who is already in custody.

Investigations have revealed that the accident was triggered when a motorcycle, ridden by a drunk 22-year-old named B. Shiva Shankar, rammed into a road divider. The bus then ran over the bike, causing a fuel leak that ignited a massive fire, quickly engulfing the entire vehicle.

While 19 passengers were charred to death, 27 others, including the two drivers, managed to escape by breaking the bus windows. The victims included seven from Andhra Pradesh, six from Telangana, two each from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and one each from Odisha and Bihar.

Authorities have also arrested Erriswamy, the pillion rider on the ill-fated motorcycle, who fled the scene in panic after the accident. The bus, which was registered in Daman and Diu in 2018 and re-registered in Odisha this year, was also allegedly modified from a seating coach to a sleeper bus, in violation of rules.