Yamuna Expressway bus fire: ‘The bus caught fire, people were screaming and I jumped from the window’; The girl who survived the horrific scene told a heart-wrenching story

Mathura/Agra. The silence of the late night on the Yamuna Expressway turned into screams and mourning when a private double-decker sleeper bus running at high speed suddenly turned into a huge ball of fire. The passengers, who were fast asleep during the journey, did not even get a chance to recover and within a few minutes the entire bus was burnt to ashes. Amidst this horrific and heart-wrenching accident, a girl who escaped alive from the jaws of death has narrated a hair-raising story of that dreadful scene. With a trembling voice and teary eyes, the young woman narrated how she jumped from the window at the last moment to save her life, but the co-passengers left behind were not so lucky and could not escape the raging flames.

The eyewitness of the accident and the injured girl recalled every moment of that black night while under the care of doctors in the hospital. According to the girl, when the bus was moving at full speed crossing the toll plaza and cut of Yamuna Expressway, most of the passengers were sleeping in their sleeper berths. Then suddenly there was a pungent smell of burning in the cabin and within no time poisonous black smoke filled all around. Before anyone could understand anything, the strong flames that erupted from the front had completely engulfed the main exit gate of the bus.

The girl, who narrowly escaped the accident, said that there was no way out as the main door of the bus had caught fire and the automatic lock had jammed. The smoke was so dense and suffocating that it became impossible to open the eyes and breathe. Screams, cries and pleas for saving lives were echoing throughout the bus. People were falling on each other in an effort to save their families, children and belongings.

The girl said, “I could not see anything, only felt the heat of the fire and the smoke was filling my throat. I felt that today was the last day of my life. But at the same time, I did not lose courage and broke the window glass near my sleeper berth with all my strength with my foot and the heavy iron rod lying nearby. As soon as the glass cracked, I jumped down from the height of the moving-stopped bus without thinking. As soon as I fell on the road below, I got seriously injured. There were injuries, but I got up and ran. Those who could not reach the window or were caught in the fire, could not come out even after trying. Their screams are still echoing in my ears.”

When other drivers and local villagers coming from behind on the expressway saw the bus burning, they immediately stopped their vehicles and ran to save the passengers. Passersby tried to break other windows of the bus with stones and sticks, due to which some other passengers including the girl were successful in jumping out. However, the fierce flames of the fire and the poisonous smoke emanating from the burning of chemical foam and plastic seats were so severe that no one could muster the courage to enter the main gate or inside the bus.

As soon as the information was received, Yamuna Expressway Authority’s patrolling team, local police and fire tenders reached the spot. By the time the fire brigade staff brought the fire under control after a lot of effort, only the iron structure of the bus was left. The police immediately started relief and rescue operations and admitted the injured girl and other passengers to the nearest district hospital and medical college, where their treatment is going on.

This tragic incident on Yamuna Expressway has once again exposed the passenger safety and technical standards of long distance private sleeper buses. Despite strict rules of the transport department, safety rules are openly ignored in most of the private tourist and sleeper buses:

1. Choking or closing of emergency gate: As per rules, there should be a wide and easily openable emergency exit at the rear or right side of the bus. But most of the bus operators, in the greed of making additional seats or sleeper cabins, get this emergency door welded or make a berth there.

2. Absence of hammer (glass breaker): To break the glass in an emergency, it is mandatory to have a red colored safety hammer installed on every window pillar, which is often missing.

3. Lack of fire extinguisher: Fire extinguishers in buses are either expired or kept hidden in a place where no one except the crew can reach them.

4. Illegal freight movement and short circuit: The trunk of these long distance buses is crammed with inflammable substances, parcels and excessive luggage. Also, there is always a risk of short circuit due to cheap and poor wiring modifications.

The police and forensic team have collected evidence from the incident site and started a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire. In the preliminary investigation, it is suspected that this massive fire might have been caused by a short circuit in the engine or AC compressor of the bus. The administration has started the process of registering a case against the bus operator for culpable homicide, tampering with the safety of passengers and serious sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. This horrifying statement of the girl who survived not only shows the horror of the accident, but also leaves the question that when will the crackdown be tightened on these ‘mobile gunpowder’ buses running on the roads.