The charred remains of a bus after it caught fire while travelling from Maharashtra's Yavatmal to Pune
A 52-year-old teacher, who was returning after dropping off his son who had enrolled in a law course in Nagpur, was killed along with his wife and daughter in Saturday's Buldhana bus tragedy.
The three Pune residents were among the 25 passengers who were killed when a private bus met with an accident and burst into flames in the early hours of the day on the Samruddhi Expressway in Sindkhedraja, some 400 kiloemtres from Pune, their families said.
Kalias Gangawane, an English teacher in a school, his wife Kanchan and their daughter Rutuja, were returning to their native Nirgudsar village in Ambegaon tehsil here after dropping off their son Aditya, who had got admission in a law course in Nagpur, he said.
"The four had gone to Nagpur on Wednesday. We came to know about the accident at 5:30am. One of our relatives, who is a policeman, informed me that the charred bodies of the three were found embracing each other," said Rupesh Gangawane, a cousin of Kailas.
Kailas said he and his family were in Buldhana for further formalities to claim the bodies.
"The family is originally from Shirur tehsil in Pune. They settled in Nirgudsar after Kailas got a teaching job," he said.
Kanchan Gangawane's brother Amar Kale said the bodies of the bus victims are charred beyond recognition and DNA tests would have to be carried out to identify them.
Arun Gorde, a teacher and Kailas' neighbour, said the latter was teaching in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru School in Nirgudsar since 1996 and had also worked as a moderator with the Maharashtra State Board for Class 12 for a decade.
"We have been neighbours since. It is a horrific tragedy. Kailas was a polite man with very good command over English. Rutuja was in the third year of BHMS in Pune and Aditya had recently passed class 12 and had secured admission for a law course in Nagpur," he said.
Gorde said Kailas was a kind-hearted man who had raised his niece and nephew after their parents died.
"Years ago, he ensured his nephew and niece never felt the pain of losing their parents at such a young age. Unfortunately, his son Aditya has now been orphaned," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)