HOUSTAN, Dec 28 : “He had very big dreams” and “he always used to think about tomorrow,” said Ayyappala Bandaru, as he remembered his roommate Rushil Barri, who was among the six Indians killed in a head-on crash in the US state of Texas.
Describing what was a happy reunion for his friend Rushil Barri turned into a horrible tragedy, his long-time friend from India, Bandaru said he couldn’t come to terms that his friend was no more.
Rushil Barri, 28, moved to Irving from India in August of 2020.
“He had very big dreams,” Bandaru said. “He always used to think about tomorrow,” Bandaru was quoted as saying on nbcdfw.Com.
He was always looking ahead and putting family first. “It’s so hard to take,” said Rakesh Barri, Rushil Barri’s brother. “He’s my half. He’s my half,” he was quoted by a local Dallas-Fortworth TV station, WFAA.
Returning from a family outing to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, Rushil Barri was driving along US 67 in Johnson County on Tuesday evening when another vehicle entered Barri’s lane in a “no passing” area, hitting his vehicle head-on, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
While Rushil Barri was one of the deceased, his brother 43-year-old Lokesh Potabathula, survived and is now battling critical injuries at Fortworth Hospital.
Rushil Barri lived in Alpharetta, Georgia. The family originally belonged to Amalapuram town in India’s Andhra Pradesh.
Potabathula’s wife, 36-year-old Naveena Potabathula; the couple’s children, 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula and 10-year-old Krithik Potabathula; and Naveena Potabathula’s parents, 60-year-old Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada and 64-year-old Nageswararao Ponnada, were the others who died in the crash.
The two elderlies were visiting their daughter Naveena, who along with her husband Lokesh, was working for TCS on an L1 visa. The victims were relatives of P Venkata Satish Kumar, a member of the Legislative Assembly from Mummidivaram in Andhra Pradesh.
Quoting Telugu Association of North America (TANA) representative Ashok Kolla, another TV station, NBCDFW, said the Association has stepped in to help with arrangements for the bodies to be returned to India: “We are working on all the processes. We are working with the consulate, Indian consulate, in Houston. We are also working with the airlines.”
In a post on X, Kadapa Rathnakar, Andhra Pradesh government’s special representative for North America, said, “Shocked and saddened to learn about the tragic car crash in Texas, USA, that claimed the lives of five Telugu people from Amalapuram. My heart goes out to the bereaved family members. May they find strength during this difficult time. My deepest condolences.” (PTI)
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