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

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.