4 Indians From Hyderabad And TN Charred To Death In Multi-Car Crash In US, They Connected Via Carpooling App

The deceased individuals have been identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati from Hyderabad, Farooq Shaik, a friend of Aryan, Lokesh Palacharla, and Darshini Vasudevan from Tamil Nadu.

Four Indians, including a woman, lost their lives in a devastating road accident involving five vehicles in Texas. The victims, who had connected through a carpooling app, were en route to Bentonville, Arkansas, on August 30 when a speeding truck rear-ended their SUV. The impact caused the car to burst into flames, leading to the immediate death of all occupants. Authorities are facing challenges in confirming the victims’ identities and are resorting to DNA fingerprinting, teeth, and bone remains for identification purposes.

The deceased individuals have been identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati from Hyderabad, Farooq Shaik, a friend of Aryan, Lokesh Palacharla, and Darshini Vasudevan from Tamil Nadu. The incident occurred at approximately 3.30 pm on August 30.

According to a report in NDTV, Aryan and Farooq, both residents of Bentonville, were returning from a trip to Dallas, where they had visited Aryan’s relatives. Meanwhile, Lokesh Palacharla was en route to meet his wife in Bentonville, and Darshini Vasudevan was on her way to visit her uncle.

Darshini Vasudevan’s father took to Twitter three days ago, tagging External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking help in locating his missing daughter.  “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.

“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 said in the post.

This tragic accident adds to a series of Indian fatalities in vehicular accidents in the US. Earlier incidents include the loss of three members of an Indian-origin family in Houston, Texas, and the demise of three Indian students in a car crash in Alpharetta, Georgia on May 14.