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Bengaluru, Oct 24 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday demanded a high-level inquiry into the bus fire in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district in which 19 people lost their lives.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said he suspected mischief or negligence in the bus accident in Andhra Pradesh.
Citing an earlier incident, he said, “Last week, a similar incident happened when a private operator was driving a vehicle from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, which caught fire in Andhra Pradesh region. I recently went to Raichur, and people showed me the video. A party cadre, a district president of Raichur, went up to the driver, shouted at him and held his neck to alert him. All the passengers Got down on time. There were about 20 medical students on board, and fortunately, they all escaped safely with minor injuries. However, their laptops were lost.”
He alleged that still precautions were not taken and the police did not take any action.
Shivakumar said he has asked state Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and Home Minister G Parameshwara to look into the incident, as the transport operator is from Bengaluru.
Shivakumar urged the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure appropriate precautionary measures.
Meanwhile, Venu, a software professional from Bengaluru, who was traveling in the ill-fated bus and managed to escape, said, “I and my fellow passengers managed to escape by breaking the glass of the emergency exit. However, we could not save the people who died in front of our eyes. We could not do anything.”
Venu, who was returning to Bengaluru after meeting his sister, was traveling on seat number L-13. “At 3 in the morning, the bus stopped and when it started moving again, fire surrounded it. We could barely breathe. A passenger broke the emergency window with his hand, injuring him, but he helped 15 passengers get out,” he said.
Venu said, “The bus first collided with a two-wheeler and then caught fire. We saw co-passengers burning alive inside the bus. We were standing about five meters away in a helpless state. An hour later, I boarded another bus and reached Bengaluru.”
–IANS
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