Gujarat-bound bus goes up in flames after hitting divider on Agra-Lucknow expressway, one dies

AGRA: A 30-year-old passenger was charred to death when a luxury Volvo bus on its way to Gujarat’s Mehsana from Bihar’s Supaul district with 70 passengers on board went up in flames after hitting the median divider on the Agra-Lucknow expressway early Sunday morning.
Seeing the burning bus near 54 milestone under Naseerpur police station of Firozabad district, locals rushed to the spot and helped the passengers de-board the bus and alerted police.
Three fire tenders were pressed into service to put out the fire, while a police team led by superintendent of police (Firozabad rural) Rajesh Kumar safely rescued 69 passengers and two bus staffers in an hour-long operation.
One passenger, however, charred as he could not come out of the bus, while the driver and the conductor sustained serious injuries and admitted to a nearby hospital, said police.
Police identified the victim as Vishnu Rishidev, a resident of Supaul, while the driver-conductor duo was identified as Babloo and Rawat Acharya.
The SP told TOI that it appeared that the exhausted driver dozed off at the wheel and the uncontrolled vehicle hit the median divider and went up in flames.
“The rescue operation lasted for nearly an hour and we saved 69 passengers, while one passenger died. The driver and the conductor of the bus, who sustained serious injuries, are undergoing treatment. Besides, we sent the rescued passengers to their destination in another vehicle and informed Supaul police about the accident. The traffic on the expressway was, meanwhile, restored after the fire was put out,” he said.