Thirty pilgrims were killed and another 16 grievously injured when a bus travelling from Hyderabad to Shirdi fell off a bridge in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra early on Saturday morning. Among the dead were 11 software engineers of IT giant Tata Consultancy Ltd who had just completed six months of training.
Initial reports stated that the bus driver was drunk when he lost control of the bus and sent it plunging 30 feet off the bridge. The bus (KA 01D245), belonging to Sree Kaleswari Travels, had left Hyderabad at around 7 pm Friday.
The incident took place at around 2.30 am at Jakot, on the Hyderabad-Solapur highway, around 40 km from Osmanabad city. While 27 died on the spot, two were declared dead on arrival at the Solapur General Hospital.
On the ill-fated bus were 15 TCS software engineers, 11 of whom died. Among them were twin sisters Divya Pynda and Deepthi Pynda, and Krishna Sahitya, an only child. “The driver, who was inebriated, lost control and the bus skidded to the left and fell from the bridge,” said SP Dattatray Karale. Police teams from Murum, Umarga, Lohesh and Tuljapur were deployed to the spot to help with the rescue operation. The victims were rushed to private and government hospitals at Solapur and Osmanabad.
Mr Ravindrasingh Pard-eshi, additional SP, Osmanabad, said, “The accident took place close to a police station and our people rushed to get the passengers out of the bus. A few of the injured passengers complained that the driver was speeding.”