Kurnool bus fire tragedy: The ill-fated bike had pillion rider, who survived, say police

Investigators have found that the motorcycle involved in the Kurnool bus tragedy had a pillion rider, who has survived. The survivor also confirmed that their motorcycle skid off much before the private sleeper bus ran over it, and the rider succumbed to wounds caused by skidding.

At least 19 people aboard the Bengaluru-bound private sleeper bus operated by V. Kaveri Travels, were killed in the early hours of Friday on National Highway no. 44 at Chinnatekur near Kurnool.

Initial police reports suggested the man who rode the motocycle was alone and died in the accident. However, more details have emerged.

Forensic experts and scores of police personnel, who examined the accident spot, inferred that the bus rammed the bike lying on the road following which fire emanated.

The special teams also found that two youngsters — Nani alias Eriswamy and his friend Shivshankar — were travelling on the route from Kurnool city towards Dhone when the tragic bus accident occurred. While Shivashanakr was riding the bike, Nani sat pillion. 

They started from Nani’s house at Laxmipuram after 2.20 a.m. They stopped by a petrol bunk and headed for Dhone. Nearly 200 meters before the accident spot, the bike skidded on the road, throwing both the riders off. 

“Shivshankar, who fell on left, died instantly with his head banging against the road. Nani got hurled over the two-feet-high steel railing along the road and landed on bushes with minor injuries,” an officer associated with the accident investigation explained on condition of anonymity.

Nani walked upto his friend only to realise the latter was dead. “He pulled the body of Shivshankar upto the railing. He tried to drag the bike but it was too heavy for him”, the officer explained.

Meanwhile, a speeding bus ran over the bike partly. “Minutes later, the V. Kaveri bus ran over the bike, dragging it for nearly 200 meters,” according to the officer. 

Nani, who was an eye-witness to this, admitted to police that he saw the bus catching fire and heard the screams of passengers from a distance. He told the interrogators that he stayed at the accident spot till the police and fire service personnel arrived at the accident spot and later went to Tuggali in a tractor that was passing by and stayed back there. 

The suspicion of Nani’s possible connection to the case arose after the police found that he came to Shivshankar’s house in Prajanagar of Kurnool town on Thursday evening. They started sticking up the other leads and picked up him from Tuggali when he revealed the facts.