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Amid burning smell, Noida bus driver smoked bidis in cabin, told passengers he won't stop: 'Die if…'
Greater Noida bus fire: Nine passengers were killed after a bus travelling from Delhi to Mahoba caught fire late Wednesday night on Yamuna Expressway.
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The driver of the bus that crashed and resulted in the death of nine passengers on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida allegedly refused to stop the bus even after a burning smell, telling the occupants, “If you want to die, then die”.
Nine passengers were killed after a bus travelling from Delhi to Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh caught fire late Wednesday night on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida. The police said the fire on the bus bearing a Bihar registration broke out around 11 pm.
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The driver and conductor of the bus reportedly ignored a burning smell and refused to stop the vehicle despite repeated warnings from passengers, news agency PTI reported, citing an FIR lodged based on a passenger's complaint.
'If you want to die, then die'
Passengers cautioned the driver and asked him to stop the bus, but the driver and conductor allegedly refused.
"If you want to die, then die; we won't stop the bus," they said, according to the FIR.
According to the police, the bus was plying with 35 passengers when the incident took place in Dayanatpur village in Jewar, on the Yamuna Expressway. The bus driver and conductor managed to flee the spot, HT earlier reported.
In a statement, the Greater Noida police said the fire erupted after a blast in the bus' AC. "The fire broke out after a spark or blast in the bus’s AC caused the engine lubricating oil to catch fire, allowing the flames to spread rapidly," it said.
“A few passengers said that as the bus reached the Yamuna Expressway, they experienced a small burning-smell and asked the driver to stop,” the earlier report quoted as saying Jewar Station House Officer (SHO) Ajay Kumar Singh.
“By the time the driver stopped the vehicle, the fire broke out and quickly engulfed the vehicle. There were 35 passengers onboard. Nine people, including a woman, failed to escape,” he added.
Police also said the driver and conductor had managed to escape by the time a team reached the spot. “Efforts are on to nab them,” the SHO said.
'Driver, conductor smoked bidis': What FIR alleges
The FIR was registered at the Jewar police station on the complaint of Suneel Kumar, a resident of Hamirpur district, who said he boarded the Raj Kalpana Travels bus from Kashmere Gate in Delhi around 9 pm on Wednesday, PTI reported.
According to the complaint, the bus reached the 33-km mark on the Yamuna Expressway around 11.30 pm when passengers noticed a burning smell emanating from the driver's cabin.
"Despite being alerted, the driver dismissed the smell as something common in the bus and did not stop to inspect the vehicle," he reportedly claimed.
"The driver and conductor continued smoking bidis and cigarettes in the cabin and that flames suddenly erupted near the driver's seat shortly afterwards," he further claimed.
Despite the passengers' alarm, the driver and conductor allegedly told them that they won't stop the bus.
By the time the bus stopped, the fire had spread and the vehicle was filled with smoke, the complaint alleged. Kumar stated that he and several other passengers managed to jump out, while some remained trapped inside.
Many passengers suffered burns and were taken to Kailash Hospital in Jewar for treatment, where the complainant was informed that nine people had been declared dead, the FIR said.
According to the complaint, the driver and conductor's "deliberate, gross negligence, rashness and reckless disregard" for passenger safety resulted in the deaths.
