Kurnool bus fire: Forensics reveal bikers were drunk before fatal crash

Andhra Pradesh police have confirmed that the two men on the motorbike involved in the Bengaluru-bound bus fire accident that killed 19 passengers last week were under the influence of alcohol.

- MPOST BUREAU

The forensic report received on Sunday established that both Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy had consumed liquor before the crash.

"We just received the forensic confirmation that the two bike-borne persons (Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy) were drunk," Kurnool Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Koya Praveen said.

The tragic incident occurred in the early hours of October 24 at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district. A sleeper bus, carrying 44 passengers to Bengaluru, ran over a two-wheeler that had already met with an accident. The impact dragged the bike beneath the bus, triggering a chain of explosions that set the vehicle ablaze.

According to police, the dragging of the two-wheeler caused its fuel tank to burst, which ignited the fire. The blaze intensified further when the bus's two 12 KV batteries exploded, engulfing the vehicle in flames. Several passengers managed to escape, but 19 people lost their lives in the inferno.