13 TCS engineers among 30 dead in bus accident

Thirteen software engineers of Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), Hyderabad, were among 30 people killed early today when the luxury bus in which they were travelling to Shirdi fell into a gorge near Osmanabad in Maharashtra. The bus was carrying 46 passengers.

Among those on board the Volvo was a group of 15 TCS engineers in the age group of 22-24, including nine women, who had completed training last week and were going to Shirdi Sai Baba temple before joining work. Only two survived, with serious injuries. Seven members of a Guntur family were among the others who died.

All the TCS engineers were from Vizianagaram and Vizag. They had graduated from NVG Engineering College, Vizianagaram.

TCS employees and victims' friends and relatives crowded counters at the Hyderabad office of Sree Kaleswari Travels, to which the bus belonged, seeking details. In some cases, even names were absent in ticket records. The Vijayawada-based owner of Sree Kaleswari Travels refused to take any responsibility.

Additional SP, Osmanabad, Ravindrasinha Pardeshi said 15 of the dead were women. At least 27 died on the spot. The two drivers on the bus and the cleaner survived. Also among the survivors was a one-year-old, Jaywardhan Reddy. While his father and grandparents died, his mother is critical.

The bus left Hyderabad at 9 pm Friday for Shirdi. The accident occurred around

3 am when it was negotiating a small bridge 260 km from Hyderabad. The bus rolled down 50 feet.

Andhra Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana claimed that some victims had said the driver appeared to be drunk. "Blood samples of the drivers and cleaner have been taken," said Assistant Inspector Ravindra Thorat of Sadarbazar police station, Solapur. An offence of negligent driving has been registered.

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