SINDKHED RAJA (BULDHANA): At least 25 passengers, including 10 women and a 2-year-old girl, were charred to death, some in their sleep, when a private travels bus crashed into a median barrier, fell over on its left side and burst into flames on the Samruddhi Mahamarg near Pimpalkhuta in Sindkhed Raja taluka of Buldhana at 1.32am on Saturday.

This is the highest death toll in a single incident on the ‘accident-prone’ expressway, a part of which was inaugurated in December 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.With most of the bodies burnt beyond recognition, and around 5-6 days required for DNA identification tests, the state government was trying to convince families of all the deceased to allow a mass cremation of the victims at Buldhana at 8am on Sunday.The Nagpur-Pune bus of Vidarbha Travels had started at around 5pm on Friday.

Passengers had also boarded from Wardha and Yavatmal, after which the bus had entered the Samruddhi eway at Karanja (Lad) at 11.08pm as per the toll booth timing.

It had 27 passengers and six crew, including two drivers.A report by the Amravati Regional Transport Office (RTO) said the bus was likely travelling at 70 kmph, as it took 2.24 hours to travel 152km to reach the spot where the accident took place.The bus is learnt to have rammed a pole on the right hand side, then hit the median divider on the same side.

This caused the bus’s front axle to be ripped away from the chassis, and the bus fell over on its left side.

This blocked the main exit for any passengers to get out.Hitting the divider had also damaged the diesel tank, spilling fuel as the bus went sliding on its side for some distance.

The sparks from the sliding bus set the fuel afire, which caused the entire bus to be engulfed in flames within minutes.

The bus’s engine oil sump too caught fire after hitting the road.Eight persons on the bus, including the driver, managed to flee the blazing inferno and are recuperating at different hospitals.Yogesh Gawai, one of the injured who spoke to the media, said he had boarded the bus from Nagpur.

“Some of us crawled out of the window after breaking the glass after the bus fell on its side.

I had pulled out one more person.

Shortly afterwards, the bus caught fire and exploded,” said Gawai from a hospital at Buldhana.

He said the police and fire brigade had reached the place within 10-15 minutes but it was too late to save anyone else.SP Higway Security Police (HSP), Nagpur, Yeshwant Solanke said his team from an assistance booth, around 10km away, had reached the spot along with the fire brigade shortly after being alerted by passers-by.

“The bus was gutted within 20 minutes leaving the occupants trapped inside charred.

We got no chance to rescue anyone despite the fast response time,” said Solanke.He said the bedding material, electrical fittings and other combustible materials had aggravated the flames.

“Survivors said there was chaos inside the bus for escaping, which created bottlenecks near the broken windows.

The survivors outside were trying to pull people out but were getting dragged inside the bus by those trapped in the melee,” said Solanke.Bus driver Shaikh Danish said in his statement that the accident took place as a right side tyre burst.

He, along with cleaner and second driver, Sandeep Rathod, are admitted at a government hospital at Deulgaon Raja.

They have been taken into custody by the Sindkhed Raja police.

Another driver, who was sleeping on the last seat, is among those killed.RTO experts have ruled out the ‘tyre burst’ theory, stating there were no burnt pieces of tyres or rupture marks or even skid marks on the road.

The RTO has said the fitness certificate of the vehicle was valid till March next year, and it was also fitted with the speed governor.The bus owner has said in a media interview that the bus was only three years old and standing for one year during Covid.

He also called his driver (Danish) an experienced one.

Though some documents said the bus pollution control certificate was not updated, the owner claims all vehicle documents were up to date.Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasne said the driver (Danish) blamed tyre burst but it does not seem to be the case.

“The driver likely was dizzy or fell asleep before losing control of the vehicle,” said Kadasne.He added that the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, and DNA sampling of the deceased would have to be done to ascertain identification beyond doubt.

The bodies were shifted to Buldhana district hospital while some of the injured were taken to hospitals at Deulgaon Raja and also Aurangabad.“Offence would be registered against the driver for causing death due to negligence and rash driving,” said the SP.

Police sources said offence has been registered against the driver Danish, while the complainant named is cleaner Rathod, who had seen the accident happening.Samruddhi Mahamarg developer Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said the ‘Save Life Foundation’ team will be reaching the spot.

It is expected to give a forensic report regarding the accident in the next two days, said MSRDC MD Radheshyam Mopalwar.Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the accident site and the injured in hospitals.

Fadnavis has said that the state has announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs5 lakh to the kin of the deceased.

Expressing deep grief, Fadnavis also declared the state would bear the expenses of the persons injured in the accident.Fadnavis asked Buldhana district administration to extend all possible support and assistance to the families of the deceased and injured.Nagpur disaster cell (8860018817) has opened an assistance window for helping the kin of the deceased and coordinate with Buldhana district administration to bring the bodies.