Families struggle to come to terms with Nagaram tragedy

AMALAPURAM/NAGARAM (East Godavari): Grief and pain engulfed Nagaram even as locals are struggling to come to terms with the tragic gas pipeline blast early on Friday that left at least 16 persons dead and many others injured.

The pre-dawn explosion not only shattered the village, that is located in Mamidikuduru mandal of East Godavari district on Friday, but also left many families in despair, robbed of their dear ones besides their hard-earned money.

Gopireddi Divya Teja, one of the blast victims, had been working at the Tatipaka station of the ONGC for the last seven years. He had been staying with his friends at Nagaram.

Teja had the habit of calling up his parents who stay at Parimella village practically every night and chatting with them for sometime. He did the same on Wednesday night, knowing little that it would be his last call to his parents who next heard about their son only when the news channels flashed the news about the fire and his death on Friday, according to his friends.

Divya Teja was admitted to the APVVP Area hospital at Amalapuram with 100 per cent burns from the gas leak and explosion in Nagaram. The hospital records showed that Teja was admitted at 7 am and he succumbed to the burns and was pronounced dead at 8.30 am.

'He had been working in the company (ONGC) for seven years. Not even a day would pass without Teja talking to us on the phone,' said G Satyanarayana, waiting to collect his son's body after the post-mortem at the APVVP Area hospital, Amalapuram.

Satyanarayana was told that his son received the burns while running to save his life. ''He left us because his time is up,' bemoaned Satyanarayana with tears welling up in his eyes.

Forty-five-year-old Madhala Balaji also met with the same fate. The hospital management said he was admitted at 7 am with 100 per cent burns and died at 8 am.

Balaji was in such a bad condition when he brought to the hospital that he couldn't even express his pain, said the hospital staff. Grief-stricken Balaji's relatives said they were clueless about how the incident had happened.

An emotionally tormented Raghavulu, who lives with his daughter-in-law Lakshmi (38), and grandsons Raja (21) and Chinna (18), recalled that his grandsons were in preparation for their father's death anniversary.

'They were making arrangements for their father's death anniversary on July 4. My grandsons wanted to support their mother and hence the elder one took up farming and the younger one started a business, but now all three of them are not alive. My family is left with no successor today,' he lamented.

B Peddiraju, who runs a hotel in the village, has been admitted with 40 per cent burns to the Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Amalapuram while his other family members - wife and two daughters - have been taken to Kakinada.

The explosion left the family members with over 30 percent burns. Peddiraju's daughters - Shanti and Harshika - and his wife are being treated at the Apollo and another hospital in Kakinada.

The explosion left the family members with over 30 percent burns. Peddiraju's daughters - Shanti and Harshika - and his wife are being treated at the Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Kakinada. The entire area around the blast site, which includes coconut farms, houses and other buildings, has been reduced to ashes.

While some families have lost their loved ones, many other villagers have lost their livelihood due to the mishap. V Satyanarayana, a local farmer could not stop shivering even hours after the incident.