Three passengers were burnt alive and 24 others sustained severe burn injuries after a Delhi-bound private bus caught fire following a violent collision with a truck loaded with winter garments in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district late on Monday, senior police officials said on Tuesday.
Six of the injured are critical and have been referred to Bahraich Medical College.
According to local police, the bus, carrying 45 passengers — most of them Nepal nationals — had departed from Sonauli near the Nepal border and was en route to Delhi. The accident took place on the Phulwaria bypass under Kotwali Dehat police station limits around 2:30am. Survivors alerted the police, and multiple fire brigade teams rushed to the spot, battling the blaze and rescuing those trapped.
According to eyewitnesses, the speeding truck coming from Phulwaria overbridge rammed into the middle of the bus at the Phulwaria crossing. “The impact was so severe that the bus skidded nearly 100m and crashed into an electric pole. The pole collapsed onto the bus, causing high-tension wires to collapse, triggering a short circuit,” one of the eyewitnesses told the police, adding, “Within moments, the bus was engulfed in flames, trapping passengers inside. Several people managed to escape by smashing the windowpanes and jumping out”.
Locals said the truck also overturned due to the collision and soon caught fire. After the flames were doused, three charred bodies were recovered from the bus — two of them burnt beyond recognition. The police said another severely burnt body was found beneath the overturned truck, likely belonging to someone travelling in it.
{{/usCountry}}Locals said the truck also overturned due to the collision and soon caught fire. After the flames were doused, three charred bodies were recovered from the bus — two of them burnt beyond recognition. The police said another severely burnt body was found beneath the overturned truck, likely belonging to someone travelling in it.
{{/usCountry}}The identities of the bus driver and conductor are unknown, as both are missing after the crash, and the police have launched an investigation.