Gurugram: Body of 6-yr-old girl missing after bus caught fire found in luggage section

The body of a six-year-old girl who went missing after a bus fire in Delhi was found on Friday, bringing the death toll to four. Another five-year-old girl also died from severe burns sustained in the incident. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The body of six-year-old girl, who went missing after the bus she was travelling in caught fire on Delhi-Jaipur expressway on Wednesday evening, was found on Friday, police officers aware of the matter said.

The bus caught fire on Delhi-Jaipur expressway on Wednesday evening. (Parveen Kumar)

A team from the Madhuban forensic laboratory dug up the body of the deceased, Deepali, from the ashes after a four-hour search and investigation, they added.

Meanwhile, officials said that another five-year-old girl, Anya, also succumbed to the severe burns sustained on the upper part of her body while undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi late on Thursday night. With this, the death toll rose to four.

Mayank Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (east), said that the whole bus, preserved at Manesar police lines, was examined again after police failed to locate Deepali.

“It took nearly four hours for the experts to find her body as it had fallen in the rear luggage compartment from the sleeper berth and was covered with a heap of molten debris and ashes,” Gupta said.

“The fire had erupted from the rear luggage compartment. Any inflammable substance or firecrackers in the luggage might have caused the fire. Forensic experts are trying to ascertain the source of fire,” he said, adding that the driver and bus owner were yet to be arrested.

Meanwhile, the uncle of Anya, Bhagwat Aharwar, said that initially she was stable but her condition deteriorated on Thursday night and she died around 10pm.

“She had severe burns on her face, head, chest and arms,” he said.