Hyderabad, September 4: In a tragic incident, four Indian nationals, including three from Telangana, lost their lives in a devastating car crash in Texas, USA, on August 30. The victims, identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati from Hyderabad, Farooq Shaik, a close friend of Aryan, Lokesh Palacharla, another Telugu speaker, and Darshini Vasudevan from Tamil Nadu, were all occupants of an SUV that was struck from behind by a speeding truck on Highway 75 in Anna, Texas. The collision led to a fiery explosion, trapping the victims inside the vehicle and resulting in their untimely deaths.
The accident, which occurred around 3:30 PM, was so severe that the SUV was quickly engulfed in flames, making it difficult for rescue teams to extract the occupants. The intensity of the fire complicated the identification process, with authorities having to rely on information from a carpooling app to determine the identities of the deceased. According to local reports, the victims had connected via this app and were en route to Bentonville. Aryan and Farooq, who were residents of Bentonville, were returning from a visit to Aryan’s cousins in Dallas. Lokesh was traveling to meet his wife in Bentonville, while Darshini was on her way to visit her uncle.
The crash has left the Indian diaspora in the United States in mourning, as this is the latest in a series of tragic accidents involving Indian nationals. The accident highlights the dangers of reckless driving and has raised concerns about road safety for travelers. Local media in Texas reported that traffic on Highway 75 had slowed significantly, causing vehicles to come to a near standstill. The truck that caused the crash reportedly failed to notice the slowdown, leading to the fatal collision.
This incident follows several recent fatalities involving Indians in the United States. In May, three Indian students were killed in a car crash in Alpharetta, Georgia, and just weeks ago, three members of an Indian-origin family lost their lives in a road accident in Houston, Texas. The repeated tragedies have sparked calls for increased awareness and measures to prevent such accidents in the future.
