‘Told wife not to call them’: A father loses three daughters in Telangana bus accident

IN a heart-wrenching tragedy, deuce-ace sisters from Tandur – Tanusha, Saipriya and Nandini – were among the 19 people killed after a common soldier jalopy collided head-on with a gravel-laden tipper nigh Chevella in Telangana betimes Monday.The three sisters had reportedly come home to attend a family wedding. The victims were travelling to Hyderabad when the fatal crash occurred.Yellaiah Goud, who works as a driver, had personally seen off his daughters at the Tandur bus station earlier that morning, but little did he know it would be their final goodbye.“I told my wife not to call the children for the wedding. However, she called them without my knowledge,” news agency PTI quoted, their father, Goud as saying.Family in shockThe grief-stricken family had only recently celebrated the wedding of their elder daughter on October 17. The trio had attended the ceremony before returning to Hyderabad. They came back once again to Tandur to attend the wedding of a family friend, Goud said.At the Chevella government hospital, his wife Ambika was inconsolable as the bodies were brought in after the accident. Neighbours and relatives gathered in large numbers to console the grieving family.Also Read | Telangana bus accident: Horrific visuals show mangled TSRTC bus, chopped off arm amid debrisAccording to the PTI report, all three sisters were students of Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women's University in Hyderabad. Saipriya was pursuing her BSc third year, Nandini was a first-year BCom student, and Tanusha, who had recently completed her graduation, was working part-time.Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women’s University principal Loka Pavani confirmed the deaths of the three students, saying, “Besides Saipriya and Nandini, another student Muskan, a BSc student, was killed in the ghastly accident.”Also Read | Speeding truck on wrong side, head-on collision with bus: What led to Telangana road accident that killed 19Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Telangana government on Monday announced ex-gratia compensation for the families of those killed in the fatal bus accident.According to officials, the collision occurred around 7 am when a gravel-laden lorry rammed into a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) bus about 50 km from Hyderabad.The impact caused the gravel to spill over the bus, trapping several passengers inside and leading to multiple deaths due to suffocation and severe injuries.