NEW DELHI: Passengers on the sleeper tourist bus that caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida had reported a burning smell minutes before the blaze, while the vehicle’s driver and conductor continued to smoke a cigarette, the first information report (FIR) showed.
According to the FIR, the passengers had earlier objected to the driver and conductor smoking inside the bus – over which the two laughed and threatened the passengers to stay quiet.
A burning odor soon filled the speeding bus – which the passengers told the driver about. He and the conductor, however, dismissed them, saying that they usually get the smell inside the bus. Despite repeated requests, the driver did not conduct any checks and continued to smoke cigarettes.
Minutes later, some flames erupted from the front end of the bus.
As the passengers began screaming, the bus driver told them, “I don’t care if you die, I won’t stop the bus,” according to the FIR.
The Bihar-registered bus, which was travelling from Delhi to Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh and carrying over 35 people, was quickly covered in flames, with the dense smoke making it difficult for people to escape. Nine people died in the incident, and many others were injured.
Visuals showed the bus completely charred and engulfed in flames as fire brigade teams continued to put out the fire and rescue passengers.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire originated from a blast in the bus’s air conditioning system, which ignited the engine’s lubricating oil and caused the fire to spread rapidly.
The bus driver and conductor survived the fire, with cops detaining them for questioning.
‘It was all smoke’
A 64-year-old woman survivor, who was going to Mahoba after her mother-in-law’s death, told NDTV that many passengers had run over her while escaping.
“We were sleeping when someone shouted ‘get out quickly, the bus is on fire’. In no time it was all smoke. Everyone was running,” she said, adding that her husband could not even get up.
“No one gave him a chance. His leg is broken, and no one gave him a chance,” she said.
Another passenger said she was asleep when the fire broke out.
“When I woke up, there was already a huge crowd. I didn’t pick up any of my belongings; I didn’t even put on my shoes. I just grabbed my phone and stepped out. It was so crowded that people were shoving each other. I was pushed around, and someone eventually pulled me out. I don’t remember anything else after that,” she said.
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