Bangalore, October 31: The usually busy streets of Kalasipalya were even more chaotic on Wednesday morning with people mobbing the tiny office of Jabbar Travels on Tipu Sultan Palace Road hours after the bus that left Bangalore on Tuesday night caught fire near Kothakota in Mahabubnagar district on the way to Hyderabad, charring to death 45 persons, including a one-year-old infant.
Long wait
Relatives and friends of the passengers on the bus frantically waited outside the office along with mediapersons and curious onlookers for updates on the tragedy. Some had come to confirm whether their relatives were indeed among the victims.
Many had turned up outside the travel agency even before the shutters were up in the morning.
Several Bangaloreans had learnt about the news soon after it was flashed on television news channels minutes after the incident.
The chaos outside the travel agency subsequently led to slow-moving traffic as well on the main road with a large number of police personnel being deployed to control the crowds.
Cordoned off
All sides surrounding the travel agency were cordoned off with ropes by the police to prevent the mob from entering the office.
Amid the commotion, Jameel Jabbar, a partner of Jabbar Travels, tried assuring the relatives that the Volvo bus had been in good condition and had a fitness certificate apart from being covered by insurance.
One of the colleagues of a deceased victim came to the travel agency, demanding to see the booking that had been made and the ticket issued. However, when it was not handed over to him, he walked off in a huff.
The list provided by the agency had 37 names which were registered through prior booking while the remaining eight persons had been picked up at other points in the city such as Mehkri Circle, Anand Rao Circle and Hebbal.
However, as the travel agency only registered the names and the contact numbers of the passengers and not their addresses, they are yet to ascertain how many passengers were from the city.
