25 passengers charred to death after bus catches fire on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra

The bus was on its way from the Vidarbha region to Pune.

Twenty-five persons were charred to death and eight others injured after a bus caught fire along the Samruddhi Corridor between Dusarbid and Sindkedraja in the Buldhana district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra on Saturday.

The international-class Nagpur-Mumbai expressway which is known as Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg is considered one of the finest roads in India.

The bus - owned by Vidarbha Travels - was on its way from Nagpur to Pune via Yavatmal and Aurangabad.

The injured passengers have been shifted to the Buldhana Civil Hospital.

A tyre reportedly burst leading to the accident, as the bus veered off and hit the divider and caught fire.

The incident took place between 0130 hrs to 0200 hrs past midnight. There were a total of 33 people aboard the bus, including two drivers and a cleaner at the time of the accident.

Local rescue and fire brigade teams reached the spot and doused the fire.

The survivors broke the windows and got out of the bus to escape the inferno.

“It is an unfortunate, sad and big incident…25 persons were killed and eight others were injured,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said.

Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Home Minister, spoke to top officials and reviewed the situation.

Shinde, Fadnavis and Buldhana’s Guardian Minister Gulabrao Patil are rushing to Buldhana.

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Fadnavis said that the diesel tank burst because of the impact leading to the fire. “It is an unfortunate incident,” he said.

“The bus was new, all the papers were okay and an experienced driver was on the wheels,” an official of Vidarbha Travels told a TV channel. “The information that I have received is that the tyre burst led to the incident,” he said.

The Maharashtra government has announced an ex gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of the deceased while the medical expenses of the injured patients would be taken care of by the government.

Expressing shock over the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the ceased from the PMNRF and Rs 50,000 help to the injured.

The state government has also announced a probe to go into the details of the incident.

Buldhana’s District Collector Dr H P Tummod and Superintendent of Police Sunil Kadasane are constantly monitoring the situation.

Amravati’s Divisional Commissioner Dr Nidhi Pandey too rushed to Buldhana.

“It is a painful incident,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, adding that the state government is extending all possible help.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said: “Due to this unfortunate incident, the issue of the speed limit of private vehicles on Samriddhi Corridor is being raised and the state government should take serious note of this and take immediate measures. Concern was expressed by asking about the statistics of accidents from the concerned department a week ago. Urgent measures were suggested to prevent accidents.”

The bodies are yet to be identified.

Fadnavis said that the bodies would be handed over to families after proper identification. "If identification is not possible we will do the DNA testing," he added.