Buried in gravel, frozen in fear: This photo shows how Telangana bus crash trapped passengers alive
CHEVELLA: A scream. Then, silence — broken only by cries muffled under stone and steel. The bus lay crushed beneath a mountain of gravel, its passengers trapped — some buried up to their necks — as minutes stretched into nearly an hour before rescuers could reach them.
“It felt like the whole world had collapsed on us. We couldn’t move or breathe properly,” said R Venkataiah, 55, a head constable from Vikarabad. He was on a work trip, now lying on a hospital cot, his voice trembling. “We screamed for help. But no one could get to us for so long.”
By the time emergency crews pulled survivors from the wreckage, many had suffered deep cuts, crushed limbs and spinal injuries. Women, students, and children were among those badly hurt.
“It all happened in a flash,” said C Sri Sai, a 27-year-old govt school teacher from Chevella. Speaking from her hospital bed, her leg wrapped in bandages, she recalled boarding the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation busaround 5am. “I sat in the last row. About an hour later, suddenly there was a huge crash — the entire bus shook violently,people screamed, and within moments everything went dark and dusty.”
Her family rushed from Tandur town after hearing the news. “It took nearly 30 minutes before the rescuers managed to pull us out,” she said.
The truck smashed head-on into the Hyderabad-bound bus, tearing open its right side and spilling gravel. Those seated behind the bus driver never had a chance. “They were almost instantly buried under the gravel — I could only hear muffled cries,” said Abdul Razak, 38, another survivor. His hands still shook as he spoke. “It was nerve-wracking.”
Mohammed Yunus, a businessman from Tandur, had climbed aboard the same bus. He escaped with bruises — but not without images he can’t forget. “I was standing in the middle of the bus. When the lorry hit, I fell sideways, and the gravel started pouring in. I thought I would die,” he said. “Because I wasn’t sitting, I managed to wriggle out through a broken window.” Others weren’t as lucky. Many remained pinned, gasping under the weight of stones.
“It felt like the whole world had collapsed on us. We couldn’t move or breathe properly,” said R Venkataiah, 55, a head constable from Vikarabad. He was on a work trip, now lying on a hospital cot, his voice trembling. “We screamed for help. But no one could get to us for so long.”
By the time emergency crews pulled survivors from the wreckage, many had suffered deep cuts, crushed limbs and spinal injuries. Women, students, and children were among those badly hurt.
“It all happened in a flash,” said C Sri Sai, a 27-year-old govt school teacher from Chevella. Speaking from her hospital bed, her leg wrapped in bandages, she recalled boarding the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation busaround 5am. “I sat in the last row. About an hour later, suddenly there was a huge crash — the entire bus shook violently,people screamed, and within moments everything went dark and dusty.”
Her family rushed from Tandur town after hearing the news. “It took nearly 30 minutes before the rescuers managed to pull us out,” she said.
The truck smashed head-on into the Hyderabad-bound bus, tearing open its right side and spilling gravel. Those seated behind the bus driver never had a chance. “They were almost instantly buried under the gravel — I could only hear muffled cries,” said Abdul Razak, 38, another survivor. His hands still shook as he spoke. “It was nerve-wracking.”
Mohammed Yunus, a businessman from Tandur, had climbed aboard the same bus. He escaped with bruises — but not without images he can’t forget. “I was standing in the middle of the bus. When the lorry hit, I fell sideways, and the gravel started pouring in. I thought I would die,” he said. “Because I wasn’t sitting, I managed to wriggle out through a broken window.” Others weren’t as lucky. Many remained pinned, gasping under the weight of stones.
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