Maharashtra: 25 charred to death as bus catches fire on Samruddhi Mahamarg

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and announced an aid of Rs. 5 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the kin of the deceased

At least 25, including three children, and one of the bus drivers were killed, and eight others injured after a luxury bus carrying 33 passengers caught fire on the newly constructed Samruddhi Mahamarg near Pimpalkhute in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district on early Saturday morning, police said.

The accident took place around 1.30am (Twitter Photo)

The accident took place around 1.30am on Saturday, police said. The passengers were travelling from Nagpur, Wardha and Yavatmal, they said.

Soon after the accident, an emergency medical service team was deployed for the highway as well as the fire brigade reached the spot and began the rescue operation, police said.

According to Virendra Dharne, bus owner, the ill-fated bus going from Nagpur to Pune met with the deadly accident after the diesel tank burst and caught fire. This happened due to heavy rainfall in the area, he said.

Preliminary reports suggest that the bus overturned after a tyre burst leading to flames in the bus. Later the diesel tank of the vehicle caught fire.

Inspector general of police (IGP) Jayant Naiknavre, Buldhana superintendent of police (SP) Sunil Kadasane, along with additional police personnel reached the spot to review the situation.

There were three children among those who died, said the IG, adding that all the injured were admitted to the government-run civil hospital at Buldhana where two were reported to be critical.

SP Kadasane said a case has been registered and an investigation in this regard has already been launched. The priority at this moment is to identify the bodies and hand them over to their family members, he added.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and announced an aid of Rs. 5 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the kin of the deceased.

CM Shinde, along with his deputy and senior cabinet ministers including, Girish Mahajan and Gulabrao Patil and Buldhana Lok Sabha member Prataprao Jadhav, visited the incident spot on Saturday afternoon. They later visited the hospital and met with the injured people and enquired about their health.

Meanwhile, CM Shinde while ordering a probe into the incident said that the state government would seek a report from the experts about the road condition and reasons for the recent series of accidents and would initiate all possible measures to prevent such incidents in coming days.

“A group of experts would study the reasons for the recent series of accidents and would initiate all possible measures to prevent such incidents in the coming days,” he said.

Deputy CM Fadnavis said that the prima facie indicated that the bus caught fire after the explosion in the fuel tank soon after the it hit the divider. Most of the passengers could not escape as the exit door got locked, he said.

The 701-km long Samruddhi Mahamarg or Mumbai-Nagpur expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11 last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the tragic incident. “Deeply saddened by the devastating bus mishap in Buldhana, Maharashtra. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected,” the PM wrote on Twitter.

Further, the PM announced an ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of those who lost their lives and Rs.50,000 to the injured.

“The road accident in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district is heartbreaking. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the families. Quick treatment is being provided to the injured by the administration. I pray to God for his speedy recovery.” Union home minister Amit Shah wrote on Twitter in Hindi.

Reacting to the incident, National Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said that the unfortunate accident at Buldhana has raised serious concerns over the speed limit of private vehicles on the Samruddhi Highway and the state government should take serious note of this and take immediate measures.

According to Sharad, these concern were raised about a week ago and urgent measures were suggested to prevent accidents.

Maharashtra leader of opposition Ajit Pawar, who also took to Twitter to condole deaths of the victims in the Buldhana bus accident, raised questions over the poor construction of the new expressway.

“There has been a series of accidents on the Samruddhi Highway since the beginning. Many citizens have lost their lives in this accident. These accidents have been repeatedly proven to be due to faulty construction of the Samruddhi Highway and human error. The demand for urgent measures has been continuously made on behalf of the opposition parties. We demand that the government should consider this demand seriously,” Pawar said.

A series of accidents has been witnessed on the newly constructed Samruddhi Mahamarg since it was inaugurated. Highway hypnosis or sleepiness during driving has emerged as the biggest cause of accidents on the Samruddhi Mahamarg, accounting for 98 accidents or 27% of the total 358 accidents reported between the period of its inauguration on December 11, 2022, and April 30 this year, showed data compiled by the state highway police.