Telangana bus crash: With no freezers, victim’s bodies preserved in ice, husk

HYDERABAD: Families members of the Telangana bus crash victims forced to use blocks of ice and husk to preserve bodies since they can’t afford to hire dead body freezer boxes.

The bodies of the victims who were poor labourers and belonged to SC and BC communities were dumped in animal feed and some other bereaved families even covered the corpses with ice and sand to delay decomposition until their kith and kin arrived from the Gulf countries for the last glimpse and funerals.

The deceased close relatives from Shanivarampeta, Himmatraopet, Ramasagaram, Tirmalapur, and Konapur villages went to the Gulf countries in search of livelihood.

As many as 58 people were killed when an overcrowded bus of state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) plunged into a gorge near Kondagattu in Jagtial district, about 190 km from Hyderabad, on Tuesday.

According to officials, 40 injured were still undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Jagtial, Karimnagar, and Hyderabad.

The bus, carrying 101 passengers, fell into the gorge when the driver lost control at a speed breaker. Brake failure is suspected to be the cause of what is believed to be the worst-ever bus accident in the country.