Copyright thehindu
The district administration on Sunday (October 26) handed over the bodies of 17 passengers of the Bengaluru-bound private bus that went up in flames near Chinna Tekuru to their family members. A total of 19 passengers were charred to death in the inferno. The 19th victim has also been also identified, and DNA samples of the deceased and his relatives have been taken for tests. Collector A. Siri and Superintendent of Police Vikrant Patil supervised the handing over of the bodies and sending them in ambulances to the native places of the deceased. Speaking to media, Ms. Siri said forensic samples of the deceased and the DNA samples of their relatives had been taken and sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for tests. “The results came today (Sunday),” Ms. Siri said. She said the passenger whose identity could not be ascertained initially as he had no pre-booked ticket was identified as Trimurthy with the help of police. The DNA samples of Trimurthy’s family members were collected on Sunday morning and the results are likely to come on Monday. Ms. Siri said the remaining two bodies will be handed over to the relatives on Monday. The Collector said they provided accommodation, transport and food to the family members of the deceased from other States. She said two families of the deceased gave their DNA samples in Vijayawada and the others in Kurnool. Ms. Siri said the family of one of the deceased, Amrit Kumar (48) of Bihar, has decided to perform the final rites in Kurnool itself, and arrangements were made by the Kurnool Municipal Corporation. The Collector said Telangana and Karnataka governments also sent ambulances for shifting the bodies to their native places. “The State government had announced ex gratia to the families of the deceased, and we will complete the process. We will send a report to the government along with the bank account and IFSC numbers for disbursing the ex gratia,” she said.
