Chitradurga: At Least Nine Killed as Private Bus Catches Fire
The bus with 32 passengers, which was on its way to Gokarna was engulfed in flames under the impact of the collision and most of the deceased were burnt alive
BENGALURU: Rescue personnel recovered 5 charred bodies of passengers from a private bus which went into flames after a speeding tanker crashed into it near Javanagondanahalli village of Hiriyur taluk on National Highway-48 in Chitradurga district of Karnataka in the early hours of Thursday. The charred bodies were recovered beyond their recognition.
The collision between the tanker and the private bus also killed the tanker driver. The body of the tanker driver was retrieved by the rescue team. The accident occurred at around 1.40 am.
As many as 32 persons travelled in the bus belonging to Seabird Travels and among the travellers 30 of them were passengers on their way to Gokarna, a popular tourist place in Uttara Kannada district. The bus left Bengaluru at around 9 pm.
IGP Ravikante Gowda explained a fuel tanker rammed the bus by jumping the divider on the National Highway and sources suspect the tanker after jumping the divider crashed into the diesel tank of the bus instantly igniting flames in the bus.
Over the incident, Minister of Transport Ramalinga Reddy said officials are unsure over the travel of 3 persons who had booked tickets and the Minister suspected the driver of the tanker might have doze off which might have led to the tanker jumping the divider on the National Highway to crash into the bus coming in the opposite direction. According to the Minister, one of the passengers sustained burn injuries while another escaped the fire in the bus with minor injuries.
Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Ranjith Kumar Bandaru told reporters the identities of a passenger Bindu and her child has been established while confusion is there over the identification of passengers-Navya and Manasa.
Meanwhile Manjappa, father of Navya, confirmed the charred body of his daughter going by the seat had occupied in the bus. He said his daughter and her two friends-Manasa and Milana left for Gokarna informing him and on Thursday at around 7 am, received a phone call from Manasa, a survivor, informing them of the tragedy.
Manjappa reached Chitradurga from his native place Channarayapatna of Hassan district to identify his daughter’s body, a software engineer working in Bengaluru. Chandregowda, father of Manasa, identified the charred body of his daughter-Manasa.
Recalling the bus in flames, a survivor identified as Hemraj, on his way to Gokarna, stated he was sleeping in the frontier portion of the bus occupying the upper berth allotted to him. Hemraj and his son survived the raging flames of the bus and reached their home in Bengaluru safely after availing first aid at a hospital in Tumakuru.
“I woke up after his head hit the ceiling of the bus after a tanker rammed into it. I was choking and by them flames started to engulf the inside of the bus. However, jumped out of the bus to escape flames through one of the damaged window panes of the bus. A couple of fellow passengers also managed to save themselves by jumping through the window pane,” he said.
Hemraj said some passengers who managed to jump out of the bus hired a cab to avail first aid for their injuries at a hospital in Tumakuru before they reached Bengaluru while some others managed to get ambulance services. Hiriyur rural police have registered a case and are investigating.
