Video captures bikers reckless driving minutes before accident

Hyderabad: A day after the tragic Kurnool bus fire accident in Andhra Pradesh, which claimed 20 young lives, details have emerged about the biker whose two-wheeler hit the bus.

A video has surfaced showing the biker stopping at a petrol station moments before the crash. CCTV footage shows 22-year-old Shiva Shankar, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, visiting the bunk along with a pillion rider. He then drags his bike and slips while speeding away.

Meanwhile, the main bus driver, Miryala Lakshmaiah, who was on the run, was arrested by police on Saturday, October 25.

Lakshmaiah allegedly obtained his heavy vehicle license using a fake certificate. Investigators discovered that he had used fabricated documents claiming to be a tenth-grade failure, despite RTA rules requiring at least an eighth-grade education for the license.

In 2004, he had crashed into a nearby tree while working as a lorry driver, in which the cleaner died, but Lakshmaiah survived.

Twenty passengers were charred to death in the wee hours of Friday, October 24, after the ill-fated V Kaveri Travels private passenger bus hit the two-wheeler in Kurnool district. There were 41 passengers, and several managed to escape.

Due to the impact, the bike slipped and hit the bus’s fuel tank, bursting into flames. The bus batteries, flammable interiors, and cargo consisting of mobile phones intensified the fire. The tragedy was compounded as the bus door got jammed due to a short circuit, and the vehicle was completely gutted within minutes. Most survivors were aged between 25 and 35 years, police added.

Shiva Shankar’s body was lying over 100 metres away from the bus.

According to the Telangana IPR department, 13 of the passengers belonged to Telangana, while 12 were from Andhra Pradesh, and the rest belonged to other states. The injured are currently receiving treatment at Kurnool Government Hospital.