hhunaeh Posted October 30, 2013 Posted October 30, 2013 40 burnt alive as bus catches fire in Andhra Pradesh Mahbubnagar (AP): Forty persons were charred to death as the private luxury bus they were travelling in burst into flames after its fuel tank caught fire in Palem village in Mahbubnagar district in the wee hours on Wednesday. "Charred bodies of 40 persons have been retrieved from the bus so far and efforts are underway to locate more bodies, if any," Wanaparthy DSP Srinivas Reddy told PTI. Five other passengers including the driver Feroze Khan and a cleaner managed to escape in the incident in the district, which is 100 kms from Hyderabad. The incident occurred at 5:10 AM when the diesel tank of the Hyderabad-bound bus owned by Jabbar Travels from Bengaluru hit against a culvert near Palem, police said, adding, the entire bus was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. The bus carrying 49 passengers started from Bengaluru at 11 PM last night. Since the bodies were found at the rear end of the bus, it gave an impression that the passengers might have tried to come out of the vehicle from there, officials said. Among the passengers were about five software engineers who were going to Hyderabad to celebrate Deepavali with their families. "It seems the bus was travelling at a high speed when its fuel tank hit the roadside culvert and caught fire.The passengers in the bus were burnt beyond recognition. The entire bus has been gutted," another senior police officer said, adding they were collecting the list of passengers who had boarded the bus Tuesday night. Initial reports said that the central locking system of the luxury bus jammed preventing people from getting out of the door and windows. Forensic experts and senior police and district officials were engaged in removing the bodies from the bus. According to the cleaner of the bus, most of the passengers were sleeping when the mishap took place. The cleaner, who has been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad, said he was pulled out of the burning bus by the driver of a car passing through the area. Meanwhile, worried relatives rushed to the office of the bus operator in Lakdi Ka Pul area in Hyderabad to collect information about their relatives. Kothakota police were further investigating the case and senior police officers have rushed to the spot. State Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana told PTI that an inquiry would be conducted into the accident. State information minister D.K. Aruna, who hails from Mehbubnagar district, visited the accident spot. PCC president Satyanarayana, YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock over the mishap.
hhunaeh Posted October 30, 2013 Author Posted October 30, 2013 Here are a few questions which keep baffling me 1> Why do these luxury buses have fixed windows? Is it a good design for a country like India?And on top of this the doors can be opened only by the driver 2> Why do people travel overnight in India? Indian roads are not good. Streets are not well lit. Lax enforcement of rules by non existent cops means a lot of drunk drivers. A lot of drivers are overworked. It pisses me off when ever someone i know decides to travel overnight. Is it just me or have others noticed that a lot of these bus accidents occur during overnight travel, especially at break of dawn
hhunaeh Posted October 30, 2013 Author Posted October 30, 2013 44 charred to death as bus catches fire in A.P. All the passengers rushed to the rear part of the bus indicating that the flames started in the front and spread to the back. But, they could not succeed in creating an opening due to exhaustion caused by shortage of oxygen and pungent fumes from the burning air-conditioners. One passenger managed to escape from the inferno but collapsed and died next to the door. it seems these buses with fixed windows are supposed to carry a hammer to break open these badly designed windows, which is usually missing in a lot of indian buses
Texy Posted October 30, 2013 Posted October 30, 2013 I am surprised that more of these incidents do not happen in India every day. No enforcement of laws, no one follows any rule...chalta hai attitude...like the whole country is sleepwalking.
Detonator Posted October 30, 2013 Posted October 30, 2013 I am surprised that more of these incidents do not happen in India every day. No enforcement of laws' date=' no one follows any rule...chalta hai attitude...like the whole country is sleepwalking.[/quote'] my dad's frnd from NZ describes our traffic as "Organized Chaos"
coffee_rules Posted October 30, 2013 Posted October 30, 2013 I have travelled on that route couple of buses on govt Volve buses (ksrtc). Scary to read that one can get trapped inside. R.I.P tragic stories of some. Very unfortunate.
hhunaeh Posted October 30, 2013 Author Posted October 30, 2013 A/C buses will have fixed windows That's not the case in other countries. Cold countries even have to worry about preventing heat leakage which we don't. The bus manufacturers and owners are just trying to save money in India.
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