Markapuram bus fire: DNA matching of all victims completed, says SP

Prakasam District Superintendent of Police V. Harshavardhan Raju on Friday said that DNA samples of victims of the Markapuram bus accident have been matched with their respective family members.

The authorities said that the forensic reports were received on Friday evening and the bodies of the victims will be handed to their kin on Saturday.

The district administration has made arrangements to transport the bodies to their native places, the SP said, adding that the probe into the accident was under way.

The officials are collecting evidence and recording the statements of eyewitnesses, he said.

Meanwhile, Markapuram Police Inspector P. Subbarao, who was among the first responders, shared more details about the accident.

“Alerted by a passerby, I rushed to the accident spot,” he said, refuting the allegations that emergency calls to ‘100’ went unanswered.

“No such calls were received by the 100. The ‘108’ ambulance service responded promptly as they got the information,” Mr. Subbarao said, adding that by the time he reached the spot, the bus and lorry were engulfed by the flames.