Ill-fated bus driver was drunk? Suspect police

Hyderabad, Oct 30 : Preliminary investigation by the Mahabubnagar police into the bus fire mishap which claimed 45 lives led the police to suspect that the bus driver of Jabbar Travels was drunk when the tragic accident happened.

The driver, who was injured in the accident and undergoing treatment at a hospital, reportedly told the police that the accident occurred when he tried to overtake a car and the bus hit a culvert setting the diesel tank on fire. However, the doctors, who are treating the driver, suspected that he was in inebriated condition. His blood samples have been taken and sent to Hyderabad for forensic examination.

It may be mentioned that 45 passengers travelling in the bus were killed when the bus caught fire near Palem in Mahabubnagar district while coming to Hyderabad from Bangalore in the early hours of Wednesday. Only five people, including the driver and cleaner, survived the mishap. INN