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Moments before deadly collision near Hyderabad, bus ‘tried to swerve away, but truck kept coming’

Police ruled out the possibility that the truck was trying to overtake another vehicle when it collided with the bus. The collision left 19 people dead.

3 min readHyderabadNov 5, 2025 07:05 AM IST

Telangana highway accident, NH-163 expansion, NGT case, banyan tree preservation, highway widening dispute, Chevella banyans, environmental activism, NHAI plan, Chevella to Hyderabad road, National Highway Authority

Police and firefighters at the site of the accident in Rangareddy, Telangana, on Monday (Photo: PTI)

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) has found after a preliminary inquiry that the driver of the bus that collided head-on with a truck near Chevella on Monday morning had taken drastic action to swerve away from the truck in the moments before impact.

The accident left 19 people dead, including the drivers of both the bus and the truck. At the time of the collision, a total of 72 people were believed to be inside the bus.

The TGSRTC said the bus driver, identified as Dastagiri, tried his best to avoid a collision. “Based on break marks and skid marks on the site, we have concluded that the bus driver tried to swerve the bus to the extreme left to prevent collision with the truck,” K Sreelatha, Regional Manager, TGSRTC, told The Indian Express. She said there was no room for the driver to move further left. “Based on the inspection, it is clear that the bus was moving away from the truck,” said Sreelatha.

Cyberabad police, who are investigating the accident, said the truck driver seemed to have made no effort to move his vehicle away from the bus. Additional Director General (Law and Order) Mahesh Bhagwat said, “The truck crossed to the right side of the road and collided with the bus at high speed. This pushed the bus nearly 50 feet backwards. The right side of the bus was smashed open by the impact.” Many passengers were left buried under the gravel that the truck had been carrying.

A senior police officer said, “We are still investigating why the truck driver did not veer the truck away from the bus to prevent the collision. It is possible that the driver’s senses were numbed and that he was sleeping.” Police have sent viscera samples of the truck driver to a forensic laboratory for tests.

Police ruled out the possibility that the truck was trying to overtake another vehicle when it collided with the bus. “There is no evidence and no testimony that says the truck was trying to overtake any other vehicle. It seems the truck was wantonly moving in the direction of the bus when the collision happened,” the officer said.

Nikhila Henry

Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice. Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed regional coverage across all five South Indian states. Her expansive career also includes a tenure at the BBC in New Delhi and contributions to prestigious international outlets such as The Sunday Times (London) and HuffPost India. Expertise & Focus Areas Nikhila’s reportage is marked by a deep-seated understanding of grassroots movements and institutional policy. Her core focus areas include: Regional Politics: Comprehensive analysis of the socio-political dynamics across South India. Education & Student Movements: Chronicling the evolution of Indian academics and the rise of youth activism. Minority Affairs: Rigorous reporting on the welfare, rights, and challenges facing marginalized communities. National Beat: Elevating regional stories to national prominence through investigative and on-ground reporting. Authoritativeness & Trust A respected figure in Indian media, Nikhila is not only a seasoned reporter but also an accomplished author and editor. She authored the critically acclaimed book The Ferment: Youth Unrest in India and edited Caste is Not a Rumour, a collection of writings by Rohith Vemula. Her dual background in daily news reporting and long-form authorship allows her to provide readers with a nuanced, historically-informed perspective on contemporary Indian society. Find all stories by Nikhila Henry here. ... Read More

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