The investigation into the Hyderabad–Bengaluru bus fire that killed 19 people in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district has taken a dramatic turn after new CCTV footage surfaced.
The footage shows that the biker involved in the incident had died before the luxury bus ever reached the spot.
His motorcycle, heavily damaged from an earlier accident, was lying on the road as a stationary hazard.
Shockingly, several vehicles passed by—swerving to avoid the bike but not stopping to help—despite it being an obvious emergency.
This has widened the probe from a simple collision to a much deeper examination of highway apathy and systemic failures in road safety.
What Really Happened
Initial reports suggested the Kaveri Travels bus collided with a moving two-wheeler, instantly killing biker Shiva Shankar (21). But forensic evidence and the statement of the pillion rider, Erri Swamy, tell a different story.
Shankar died when his bike skidded and hit a divider. Swamy pulled his friend’s body aside but couldn’t move the damaged motorcycle. CCTV confirms multiple vehicles drove past without stopping to help or alert authorities.
Swamy, overwhelmed and scared, fled moments before the speeding bus — reportedly doing 80-90 kmph — ran over the bike.
The bus dragged it for nearly 200 meters, causing friction and fuel ignition, which sparked the massive fire that engulfed the sleeper coach.
Wider Liability Under Scrutiny
The focus now shifts from blaming the biker to examining:
The bus driver, Miriyala Lakshmaiah, for high-speed negligence and failing to stop after impact.
Kaveri Travels, for possible corporate negligence, including alleged illegal sleeper conversion, a faulty emergency door, and carrying cargo like mobile phones whose lithium batteries may have worsened the blaze.
Other motorists, for ignoring a clear emergency and contributing to the chain of events through their inaction.
Authorities are now investigating all contributing factors — from the earlier accident to the ignored hazard and the bus’s unsafe condition — to determine how a minor roadside mishap escalated into one of the region’s worst highway tragedies.
