Kurnool bus fire: Both bikers were drunk, confim police
Siva Shankar, who drove the bike, had died before the bus crashed into the bike. Nineteen bus passengers lost theor lives in the fire.
Siva Shankar, who drove the bike, had died before the bus crashed into the bike. Nineteen bus passengers lost theor lives in the fire.
Siva Shankar, who drove the bike, had died before the bus crashed into the bike. Nineteen bus passengers lost theor lives in the fire.
Kurnool: Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday confirmed that the bikers involved in the Kurnool bus fire accident, which claimed the lives of 19 passengers, were drunk.
Though police were aware that the duo was in an inebriated condition, they did not confirm this fact as they were waiting for forensic evidence, PTI reported.
"We just received the forensic confirmation that the two bike riders (Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy) were drunk," said Kurnool Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Koya Praveen.
In the wee hours of October 24, the sleeper Bengaluru-bound bus ran over a two-wheeler that had already been in an accident at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district. The two-wheeler was dragged forward underneath the bus, leading to the bursting of its fuel tank and subsequent ignition of the fire.
There were 44 passengers on the bus and several managed to escape.
The DIG said the duo had food in a dhaba and Swamy had admitted to consuming liquor.
According to police, Shankar and Swamy had started off on the two-wheeler from Lakshmipuram village around 2 am on October 24 to drop the latter at Tuggali village in Kurnool district.
En route, the duo had halted at a fuel station to fill petrol at 2.24 am. A video of their halt at the petrol bunk went viral, and Shankar was seen riding the two-wheeler rashly.
Shortly after resuming their journey, the two-wheeler skidded, causing Shankar to fall to his right and hit the divider. He died on the spot.
When Swamy had pulled Shankar from the middle of the road and checked him, he had died on the spot, said Kurnool Superintendent of Police Vikrant Patil.
"Even as he was thinking of pulling the bike aside from the road, the bus rushed in and ran over it, dragging it forward to some distance," said Patil.
Swamy was scared after the back-to-back accidents and left for his native village of Tuggali. Later, police picked him up and questioned him to unearth the crucial details of the ghastly accident.