JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas — A broken heart isn't enough to describe the pain one family is facing after several of their relatives were killed in a Texas crash. One of them is still fighting for life in the hospital.
"I can't digest it. He's no more," explained Rakesh Barri.
Barri's younger brother Rushil was driving with five of his family members back from a visit to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose Tuesday when the Texas Department of Public Safety said a pickup truck entered the 28-year-old's lane in a “no passing” zone along US 67 in Johnson County -- outside of Dallas-Fort Worth -- and hit his vehicle head-on. The impact of the crash killed Rushil and five other people in the van.
Rakesh said the loss has been "so hard to take."
"He's my half," he described his brother. "He used to think always about tomorrow not about today."
Rushil Barri
Rushil and Rakesh's cousin, Lokesh Potabathula, was visiting from Alpharetta, Georgia with his son and daughter, just nine and 10; his wife, Naveena; and his wife's parents visiting from India. All were riding in the van with Rushil.
Lokesh, in the middle of the image of the entire family belowbelow, was the only survivor in their car.
Two 17-year-olds riding in the pickup both survived.
For Rushil's roommate, Ayyappala Bandaru, the shock and grief is hard to fathom.
"Just in one family, they lost five members," Bandaru said. "It's like... I don't even know what to say on that."
Bandaru said Rushil's family was painting things as a Christmas gift before going to visit their family in Glen Rose.
Rushil told Bandaru before he left that he wanted them to celebrate the new year by getting into new hopes and dreams.
Meanwhile, Rakesh and Bandaru are working with the Telugu Association of North America to reunite their lost loved ones with their families back in India, knowing that coming to terms with loss will be difficult for all.
“Still, my mother can’t stand it," Rakesh said. "He is still alive. I’m praying to the God, he will be back with you. You will be back with him to India. No, he is no more. She just can’t digest it.”