US News: Four Indians have died in a tragic five-car accident in Texas last week, NDTV reported. The deceased were carpooling to Bentonville in Arkansas on August 30 when the deadly car pile-up occurred.
The deceased were identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Dharshini Vasudevan, Farooq Shaik, and Lokesh Palacharla, the report said.
The SUV they were travelling in caught on fire after a speeding truck rammed into it, and all four bodies were charred beyond recognition, the report said, adding that authorities used DNA testing to confirm their identities. They also used information from the carpooling app to help identify them.
A long weekend in the US delayed the identification process, and kept families uncertain.
According to the report, Orampati and his friend Shaik were returning to Arkansas from a visit to his cousin in Texas, Palacharla was on his way to meet his wife, and Vasudevan was en route to visit her uncle. Vasudevan had finished a Masters Degree from the University of Texas and was working in the US.
Orampati's father Subhash Chandra Reddy owns a Hyderabad-based firm named Max Agri Genetics. Aryan acquired his engineering degree at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore, as per the NDTV report.
A relative told the publication that Orampati's parents travelled to the US in May to attend his convocation at the University of Texas, and that he wanted to work in the US for a few years before returning.
Orampati's friend Shaik, also hailed from Hyderabad, while Darshini hailed from Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to the publication, Shaik's father Masthan Vali said his son went to the US in 2021 to complete his MS degree. "My daughter also lives in US and is handling the situation," he added.
The report noted that Darshini's father Vasudevan had approached External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar via social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) on August 31, seeking help after they were unable to contact her.
"Dear Sir, My daughter Dharshini Vasudevan holding Indian passport No-T6215559 have been in USA for the last 3 years, 2 years of MS studies and later 1 year of Employment and stays 3150 Avenue of the stars Apt 1110-Frisco, Texas-75034.," he wrote.
"Yesterday evening she took a car pooling along with 3 others around 3pm till 4pm she was actively messaging and reachable on phone after 4pm no further contacts could be established with her as well other 3 people who were travelling with her," he added.
"The travel was from Frisco to Bentonville (her uncle home) since it’s a long weekend she pre booked for the travel. We parents are really worried and it’s almost 12 hours we don’t the status of our daughter. Please help," Vasudevan said.
