Kurnool Bus Fire Accident: Police Launch Manhunt for Mysterious Third Driver

A week after 19 people were killed in the devastating bus accident at Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, police have launched a search operation to locate a third driver allegedly involved in the case.

Last week, 19 passengers in a private bus operated by V Kaveri Travels were killed when the vehicle burst into flames after colliding with a bike while en route from Hyderabad to Bengaluru.

Investigations revealed that one man, Shiva Shankar, died after his bike collided with the bus. His friend, Yerri Swamy, had managed to pull Shiva’s body to the side of the road, but the speeding bus struck the bike and erupted into a fireball within seconds of the collision. At the time, the bus was carrying 40 passengers and two drivers.

Police have now confirmed that a third driver played a role in the accident.

According to an Indian Express report, dashboard footage shows another bus passing the spot just before the deadly collision.

DIG Praveen said the other bus had dragged Shiva’s bike into the middle of the road. During the fatal crash, the bike had fallen near the divider, not the center. He pointed out that had the other driver stopped to move the bike, the catastrophe could have been avoided.

Citing the footage, the DIG stated that the bus narrowly missed the bike but did nothing to prevent the accident. The driver of this other bus is yet to be identified.

So far, police have booked the driver of the ill-fated bus, M Lakshmaiah, and the owner of Vemuri Kaveri Travels, Vemuri Vinod Kumar.

The DIG’s latest revelation reinforces that negligence was the primary cause of the tragedy. Investigators also found that Shiva Shankar was inebriated when he collided with the divider. Additionally, the bus had 16 pending challans, including for speeding and dangerous driving, yet the private travel agency failed to hold its drivers accountable for repeated traffic violations.