Nagpur: At least 25 passengers, inlcuding three children, were charred to death in their sleep in a major bus accident on the Nagpur-Mumbai Super-Expressway (Samruddhi Expressway) at Buldhana Saturday, officials said.
The bus, belonging to Vidarbha Travels, was traveling from Nagpur to Pune when the tragic incident 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.
"The bus was travelling from Nagpur to Pune when at around 1:35 am when it met with an accident on Samruddhi Mahamarg expressway, after which the diesel tank of the bus caught fire", Buldhana SP, Sunil Kadasane, said.
he Samruddhi Expressway has already earned the sobriquet of a 'killer highway' with over 95 deaths and more than 300 accidents on the Nagpur-Nashik stretch currently functioning till May 2023.
There were a total of 33 passengers aboard the bus, including two drivers and a cleaner. So far 25 have perished in the disaster, while at least five injured have been admitted to the Buldhana civil hospital for treatment.
"The driver, who survived the incident, said that the bus hit the pole after a tyre burst, " the police said.
The police are probing the tragedy and the exact causes of the accident in which one driver was killed and the second has survived.
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.
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