Four Indians were charred to death in a massive car crash 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 travelling in, causing it to explode and burst into flames. The authorities are relying on DNA testing to confirm their identities. 

Aryan Raghunath Orampati

Aryan Raghunath Orampati, a resident of Hyderabad, loved music, travelling, and sports, and had an “unbending fascination” for Finance. He had a degree in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Tamil Nadu and a Master’s in Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas. His father Subhash Chandra Reddy owns a Hyderabad-based firm named Max Agri Genetics Private Limited.

Mr Orampati worked as an Accounting Intern at Max Agri-Genetics Pvt Ltd. in India before he earned a full-time position at the company for over a year. He was returning from visiting his cousin in Dallas when the tragedy struck. 

Farooq Shaik

Farooq Shaik, also a Hyderabad resident, was travelling 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 completed recently, revealed his father. His father, Masthan Vali is a retired private employee. 

Lokesh Palacharla

Lokesh Palacharla, from Andhra Pradesh, was a banker in the Bank of America in Allen, Texas. He was travelling to Bentonville to meet his wife. 

Mr Palacharla held a Master’s degree in Informatics from Northeastern University. He worked at Tech Mahindra in Hyderabad. Before that, 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 was working in the US. She was on her way to visit her uncle in Bentonville, Arkansas, when the car she was travelling in got rear-ended. Ms Vasudevan’s father sought help locating her through an X post, tagging External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, 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 taken a carpool ride with three others around 3 pm and was actively messaging until 4 pm, after which all contact was lost with her.