Four Indians, including a woman, have died in a five-vehicle collision in Texas, USA. The victims were connected through a carpooling app and were travelling to Bentonville, Arkansas when the accident occurred on Friday. The SUV they were travelling in caught fire due to the accident and their bodies were burnt. Authorities are relying on DNA tests to confirm their identities.
The victims have been identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Farooq Shaikh, Lokesh Palacharla and Darshini Vasudevan. Orampati and his friend Shaikh were returning after visiting their cousin in Dallas. Lokesh Palacharla was on his way to Bentonville to meet his wife. And Darshini Vasudevan, a master’s degree graduate from the University of Texas, was going to visit her uncle in Bentonville. They connected through a carpooling app and this helped authorities identify them.
Orampati’s father Subhash Chandra Reddy owns a Hyderabad-based firm called Max Agri Genetics Pvt Ltd. Aryan completed his engineering degree from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore. “His parents were in the US for his convocation at the University of Texas in May. After the convocation, they asked him to return to India, but he said he wanted to work in the US for two more years. As fate would have it,” said a relative.
Orampati’s friend Shaikh was also from Hyderabad and lived in Bentonville. Darshini, from Tamil Nadu, lived in Frisco, Texas.
Farooq Shaikh’s father, Mastan Wali, said he had gone to the US three years ago. “He had gone to the US to complete his MS degree. He completed it recently.” Mr Wali is a retired private employee and his family lives in BHEL Hyderabad. “My daughter also lives in the US and is handling the situation.”
According to reports, five vehicles were involved in this tragic accident. A speeding truck hit the SUV from behind in which the victims were travelling. The car caught fire and all the occupants were burnt to death. The authorities are now relying on DNA fingerprinting and remains of teeth and bones to confirm the identities. “DNA fingerprinting will be done to identify the bodies and the samples will be matched with the parents,” a local official said.
The identification process has been delayed due to the long weekend in the US, adding to the agony of the families affected by the tragedy. Darshini Vasudevan’s parents have appealed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for help.
