A three-year-old boy was charred to death while three passengers sustained burns after the bus they were travelling by caught fire near Humnabad in Bidar district on Friday.
The deceased has been identified as Veeyan, son of Ramprasad and Venkateshwari, residents of Gachibowli area in Hyderabad, the police said. The couple, along with their two children and Ramprasad’s mother, were returning from a pilgrimage to Shirdi.
The driver of the Hyderabad-bound luxury sleeper bus (PY01-CK-9522) belonging to Kaveri Travels, noticed fire in the rear engine and parked the vehicle near a dabha, three kilometres from Humnabad. The driver jumped from the vehicle and fled the spot. Flames rapidly engulfed the vehicle, police said, quoting eyewitnesses.
As panicked passengers got down from the burning bus, Ramprasad and his family too alighted from the vehicle. As the fire began to spread to the front portion of the bus, the family realised the Veeyan was fast asleep there. It was too late by the time Ramprasad rushed to rescue his younger son.
A major tragedy was averted with Ramavadh Singh, the owner of the dabha and his workers using the water in the dabha to douse the fire. They also broke the rear windshield of the bus to evacuate the passengers, eyewitnesses said. Fire tenders soon rushed to the spot and local people helped in salvaging the luggage of the passengers. Fire brigade personnel suspect that the fire might have erupted from the radiator as the vehicle was driven for long hours at high speed. However, the exact reason could be ascertained only after a probe, they said.
Nagalakshmi Bhavani Shankar, Varun Kumar and Divya, who suffered burns in the accident, were given first aid at the local government hospital and referred to Hyderabad for further treatment. Senior police officials visited the spot. A case has been registered at Humnabad police station.