Bus catches fire, 27 killed

At least 27 passengers were charred to death and as many wounded when a Delhi bound bus fell into a ditch and caught fire. Official sources said 13 passengers had boarded from the originating point Muzaffarpur, a north Bihar town, on Thursday. An exact number of casualties was not available amid the speculations that more passengers were on board.

Denying the reports that more than 13 passengers might be on board, disaster management principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit said only 13 passengers had boarded from Muzaffarpur. He said five passengers were feared dead.

But later on in a surprising development Amrit in the late evening claimed nobody died in the bus accident. “There is zero casualty in the bus fire and all passengers were taken out alive,” he told PNS.

The accident took place on the four-lane national highway near Bagra village in Motihari, East Champaran district. There was also no confirmed account on how the bus fell into the ditch but unofficial sources said the bus driver lost the control while saving a speedy bike.

The moment the air-conditioned bus fell down it caught fire in which at least seven passengers were burned to death while six other passengers who sustained severe burn injuries were somehow extricated and were rushed for medical aid. They were later taken to Patna Medical College Hospital. The Bihar Government announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each deceased.

While Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said many passengers died, Health Minister Mangal Pandey in a written reply condoled the death of “27 people.” Governor Satyapal Malik also expressed shock over the accident and death of some passengers.

The bus belonged to Sahil Raj Travel Agency but the ill-fated bus was registered in Uttar Pradesh. All the employees of the agency fled from their office and did not provide list and details of the passengers.

It is reported that about 32 people had made online booking on this bus and 17 of them were scheduled to board from Gopalgunj, a town situated on Bihar-UP border. It is also suspected that the bus was being operated on Muaffarpur-Delhi route without permit, but the officials refused to comment on this.

The report of this incident reached to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when he was inaugurating a programme of transport department in Patna and the event was expected to discuss the road safety and implementation of the rules of transportation. Expressing deep sorrow over the fatal incident the CM observed one minute silence in the memory of deceased passengers.