In a heart-wrenching turn of events, a tragic road accident in Telangana has claimed the lives of 19 people, including three sisters from Tandur: Tanusha, Saipriya, and Nandini. The devastating collision occurred when a private bus they were traveling in collided head-on with a truck carrying gravel near Chevella in Telangana early Monday morning.
The sisters had reportedly returned home to attend a family wedding. Their journey back to Hyderabad was cut short by the fatal crash. Their father, Yellaiah Goud, a driver by profession, had bid them farewell at the Tandur bus station that morning, unaware it would be their last goodbye. He recounted his poignant words to his wife, “I told my wife not to call the children for the wedding. However, she called them without my knowledge.”
The grief-stricken family had recently celebrated the wedding of their eldest daughter on October 17, an event the three sisters had attended before returning to Hyderabad. Their return to Tandur was for a family friend’s wedding.
At the Chevella government hospital, the scene was one of profound sorrow as the bodies were brought in. The girls’ mother, Ambika, was inconsolable, surrounded by grieving neighbors and relatives who had gathered to offer support.
All three sisters were students at Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women’s University in Hyderabad. Saipriya was in her third year of BSc, Nandini was a first-year BCom student, and Tanusha had recently completed her graduation and was working part-time. The university’s principal confirmed the tragic loss of the three students, also noting the death of another student, Muskan, in the same accident.
In response to the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Telangana government have announced ex-gratia compensation for the families affected by the bus accident. Officials reported that the collision occurred around 7 am when the gravel-laden lorry collided with a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) bus. The immense impact caused gravel to spill onto the bus, trapping passengers and tragically leading to multiple fatalities due to suffocation and severe injuries.