Table of Contents
Four Indians were killed in a major car accident in Texas, US on Friday. The victims, who were carpooling to Arkansas, were identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Farooq Shaik, Lokesh Palacharla and Dharshini Vasudevan.
A speeding truck rear-ended the SUV they were riding in, causing it to explode and catch fire. Authorities rely on DNA testing to confirm their identities.
Aryan Raghunath Orampati
Aryan Raghunath Orampati, a resident of Hyderabad, loved music, travel and sports, and had an “unyielding fascination” with finance. He holds a degree in electrical, electronic and communications engineering from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Tamil Nadu and a master’s degree in finance from the University of Texas at Dallas. His father Subhash Chandra Reddy owns a Hyderabad-based company called Max Agri Genetics Private Limited.
Mr. Orampati worked as an accounting intern at Max Agri-Genetics Pvt Ltd. in India before landing a full-time job with the company for over a year. He was returning from visiting his cousin in Dallas when tragedy struck.
Farooq Shaik
Farooq Shaik, also a resident of Hyderabad, was traveling to Bentonville to meet his friend when he met with the fatal car accident. He had gone to the US three years ago to pursue his MS degree, which he recently completed, his father revealed. His father, Masthan Vali is a retired private employee.
Lokesh Palacharla
Lokesh Palacharla, from Andhra Pradesh, was a banker at Bank of America in Allen, Texas. He traveled to Bentonville to meet his wife.
Mr. Palacharla received a master’s degree in computer science from Northeastern University. He worked at Tech Mahindra in Hyderabad. Previously, he worked at BrainVita Pvt Ltd in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
Dharshini Vasudevan
Dharshini Vasudevan completed her master’s degree from the University of Texas and worked in the US. She was on her way to visit her uncle in Bentonville, Arkansas, when the car she was riding in had a rear-end collision. Ms Vasudevan’s father sought help in locating her through an X-post, in which External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was tagged, after she became unreachable following the accident.
In his emotional post, he shared details about his daughter’s stay in the US, mentioning her Indian passport number, address in Frisco, Texas, and her activities on the day of the accident. He explained that Ms Vasudevan had carpooled with three others around 3pm and had been actively messaging until 4pm, after which all contact with her was lost.