Fourteen passengers were killed and 27 others injured on Thursday when the private bus they were traveling in collided with a dumper, sparking a massive fire in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district, police said.
According to the police, the accident occurred around 6 am near a quarry near Rayavram village while the bus was heading towards a bend near the quarry road and collided with a speeding dumper truck. The bus, belonging to Harikrishna Travels, was heading from Jagtial in Telangana to Kaligiri in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the bus’s steering was faulty as a result of which the driver lost control and shifted to the opposite lane. The dumper, which was coming on the lane, also lost control and collided with the bus. The fuel tank of the bus exploded and caught fire within minutes. The intensity of the fire was so intense that both the vehicles were completely destroyed,” Harshavardhan Raju, inspector of Markapuram police, told reporters.
The police said: “One of the drivers and the cleaner managed to escape from their injuries.”
The bus has a license and insurance until December 2026, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said.
Many of the victims were reportedly sitting in the back of the bus, where escape became difficult after the collision and the rapid spread of fire. It is believed that many passengers survived after breaking the windows and escaping from the front and side parts of the bus.
The rescue operation was initially hampered by the severity of the fire, and emergency teams from the police and fire services rushed to the scene to recover the victims, remove debris, and assist the survivors.
The deceased have been identified as Ambati Anil (26), his son Leo (5 months), Bhandari Padma (28), Muthanji Venkateswarlu (45), Tamashiti Pichamma, Tamashiti Rukmini, Appu Ramadevi, Bodili Mahindra, N Prabhavati (36), Kathi Jayaramulu, Atmakuru Sheena, Devendra Ramaiah, N Chitra (6) and Jyothi.
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The 27 injured passengers are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals.
Expressing grief over the incident, President Draupadi Murmu offered his “deepest condolences to the bereaved families”, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia donation. $2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased person. The wounded will be given $50,000.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed deep shock and sadness over the tragedy and held a teleconference meeting with senior officials soon after the incident. It was also announced as a gift $5 lakhs to the family of the deceased $2 thousand for each of the injured
Survivors recounted the horror of the tragedy that occurred early in the morning.
“Auntie, I’m dying. Please save me,” said 42-year-old Bee Ratama, who was unable to save her 20-year-old nephew.
Ratama, who was traveling with her cousin and nephew, said they were asleep at the time of the accident. “Suddenly, the bus flipped over loudly and we all fell off our platforms. By the time we realized…there was fire and smoke everywhere. All I heard was a loud scream from my cousin, ‘Aunty, I’m dying,'” she recalls, adding that while she and her cousin escaped through a side door, they couldn’t find the boy.
Another survivor, Monica (20), from Armor, said she was traveling with her family after visiting her mother at the hospital. She said: “I was traveling with my mother, my aunt, and her two sons. My cousin and I were able to drag my mother out at the last minute… but we were unable to save the other two.”
It also raised serious concerns about the condition of the bus. “The driver stopped the bus twice to make repairs. They did not tell us the actual condition of the vehicle.”
One of the passengers – K. – stopped. Balaraju of Takilapadu village in Kanigiri – as a symbol of bravery as he smashed window panes to help several passengers escape, despite his injuries. “I broke the window of the other side of the bus and helped the trapped passengers get out,” said Balaraju, who is undergoing treatment at Markhapur Government Hospital.
A 25-year-old survivor, who was struggling to speak due to severe burns, said: “I don’t know what happened. I was asleep. I fell on the road. There were flames on my body.”
