‘People were crying, screaming’: Survivor recounts horror of Andhra bus fire

Andhra bus fire

Nineteen people were charred to death and several others sustained burn injuries after an air-conditioned sleeper bus travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru caught fire on National Highway 44 near Chinnatekuru village in Kurnool district on October 24.

For those who survived the Kurnool bus fire, the nightmare refuses to fade — flashes of screams, smoke, shattered glass, and the desperate fight for life replay over and over. Some jolt awake in the middle of the night; others wake drenched in sweat, haunted by the faces they couldn’t save.

“I was sitting just behind the driver. Around 2.30-3am, I saw flames flickering near the window,” a survivor was quoted by The Times of India saying.

“I alerted the driver immediately. The bus stopped, and everyone began shouting. We started breaking the windows with anything we could find.” Guna Sai searched frantically for a fire extinguisher, a safety hammer, an emergency exit — anything that could offer a way out. There was nothing. “I was desperate,” he told the newspaper.

“People were crying, screaming for help. I tried to find something, anything, but there were no safety measures. All we could do was fight our way through the flames,” he added.

Another survivor recalled: “Everyone was pushing, screaming, trying to breathe, trying to live. But in the midst of all that, strangers still helped each other.”

As survivors grapple with the weight of their trauma, grieving families of the deceased face another ordeal — waiting until Sunday evening or Monday morning to claim the bodies.

Victims’ DNA reports expected by Monday

Dr Brahmaji, professor of forensic sciences department at Kurnool GGH, said postmortem formalities of all 19 deceased were done at the accident site on Friday.

“While performing autopsies, we collected muscle tissue, bones and teeth of victims. DNA samples have been collected and sent to forensic science laboratory at Mangalagiri,” he informed.

Blood samples of family members of 18 identified victims have also been collected to arrive at a match during physical identification of the victims. “We are expecting the DNA reports to reach us either by Sunday evening or Monday,” he told the newspaper.