DHARWAD: Following the recent death of 11 people who were traveling to Goa, the survivors spoke of the horrifying experience of losing their dear ones and surviving by virtually a hair-breadth.
Around nine women and two men were killed in a head-on collision with a tipper carrying sand on the Pune-Bengaluru highway, near Itigatti, early Friday.
One of the passengers, Asha, who survived the accident, said that the women were all childhood friends and had decided to go to Goa. On Friday, they set out on the journey at around 3 am. Asha recalled that she had told her cousin over a phone call that she was setting out.
She also said that she took a seat at the back of the minibus and had fallen asleep very early in the journey, but was rudely awoken at the moment of the accident. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her friends, who had been full of excitement, had fallen down on the floor of the minibus.
Asha was also seriously injured in the accident. Pulling out her mobile phone, she called her cousin and informed of the accident, just before losing consciousness.
Speaking to the police later, she asked with great worry if her friends were fine, while the police, in turn, pacified her.
Asha, who is yet to recover from the experience of intense joy converting into horror, also expressed her condolence to the families of her deceased friends, praying that they get the courage to bear the loss.
