CHEVELLA: A scream. Then, silence – damaged solely by cries muffled underneath stone and metal. The bus lay crushed beneath a mountain of gravel, its passengers trapped – some buried as much as their necks – as minutes stretched into practically an hour earlier than rescuers might attain them.“It felt like the entire world had collapsed on us. We could not transfer or breathe correctly,” mentioned R Venkataiah, 55, a head constable from Vikarabad. He was on a piece journey, now mendacity on a hospital cot, his voice nonetheless trembling. “We screamed for assist. However nobody might get to us for thus lengthy.”By the point emergency crews pulled survivors from the wreckage, many had suffered deep cuts, crushed limbs and spinal accidents. Girls, college students, and youngsters had been amongst these badly damage.“All of it occurred in a flash,” mentioned C Sri Sai, a 27-year-old govt college instructor from Chevella. Talking from her hospital mattress, her leg wrapped in bandages, she recalled boarding the Telangana State Highway Transport Company bus round 5am. “I sat within the final row. About an hour later, out of the blue there was an enormous crash – your entire bus shook violently, individuals screamed, and inside moments every thing went darkish and dusty.”Her household rushed from Tandur city after listening to the information. “It took practically half-hour earlier than the rescuers managed to drag us out,” she mentioned.The truck smashed head-on into the Hyderabad-bound bus, tearing open its proper aspect and spilling gravel. These seated behind the bus driver by no means had an opportunity. “They had been nearly immediately buried underneath the gravel – I might solely hear muffled cries,” mentioned Abdul Razak, 38, one other survivor. His arms nonetheless shook as he spoke. “It was nerve-wracking.”Mohammed Yunus, a businessman from Tandur, had climbed aboard the identical bus. He escaped with bruises – however not with out pictures he cannot overlook. “I used to be standing in the course of the bus. When the lorry hit, I fell sideways, and the gravel began pouring in. I believed I might die,” he mentioned. “As a result of I wasn't sitting, I managed to wriggle out via a damaged window.” Others weren't as fortunate. Many remained pinned, gasping underneath the load of stones. “We had been buried as much as our necks. It was inconceivable to maneuver. We might hear individuals groaning in ache,” mentioned one other injured passenger.When the rescue groups – locals, police, and emergency employees – lastly broke via the particles, the morning solar had risen excessive. What they discovered inside mangled shell of the bus was a scene of devastation that phrases might barely include.
