Vidarbha Travels bus catches fire on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra, 25 killed
On Saturday, in a major bus accident caused on the Nagpur-Mumbai Super-Expressway, at Buldhana, over 25 passengers were charred to death in their sleep, officials said.
The bus, belonging to Vidarbha Travels, was traveling from Nagpur to Pune and the tragedy occurred near the Sindhkhedraja area at around 1.15 a.m., a police official said.
According to the police, the bus was speeding when it hit an expressway divider, then a pole, and was out of control for some distance before there was an explosion followed by a ball of fire that engulfed the vehicle and trapped the passengers.
There was a total of 33 people aboard the bus, including two drivers and a cleaner, and so far 25 have perished in the disaster, while at least five injured have been admitted to the Buldhana civil hospital for treatment.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has expressed grief over the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakhs for the kin of each deceased, and free treatment for the injured.
One of the drivers was killed and the second survived the accident.
Meanwhile, Virendra Darna, owner of the bus, said, “We bought the bus in the year 2020. The bus driver Danish was experienced in driving. We have got information that the bus hit the road divider after tyre burst. Due to the presence of flammable items in the bus, the bus caught fire.”
PM Modi has announced ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakhs each to the next of kin of the deceased and financial assistance of Rs.50,000 each to those injured.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an ex gratia of Rs.5 lakh for the next of kin of those individuals who died in the bus accident.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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