Hubli: Barely two weeks after a Volvo bus caught fire en route to Hyderabad from the city on October 30 and charred 45 innocents to death, seven passengers have died under chillingly similar circumstances in Haveri district early on Thursday morning.
A Mumbai-bound Volvo bus belonging to city based National Travels, carrying 56 passengers when there were only 49 seats, and clearly way over the speed limit, rammed into a cement divider on a bridge on National Highway-4 at KunimalliÂhalli village in Savanur taluk, some 55 km from Hubli and caught fire.
The bus had left BengÂaluru at 8.30 pm on WedÂnesday. Among the dead was a two year old child, burnt alive in the inferno. In all, 41 people have been injured. The condition of six passengers being treated at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciencies (KIMS) in Hubli is said to be criticial.
After colliding with the cement divider, the bus continued to drag alongside a steel railing for a distance of 100 metres before coming to a halt. The damaged diesel tank leaked inflammable fuel over a 200 m stretch, and when the damaged engine exploded, the fuel became a ball of fire, engulfing the bus in flames.
What's happening to Bangalore buses? Three fires in 15 days
Desperate passengers, trapped inside, broke open the windows and the emergency exit to jump on to a deep slope outside, injuring their legs and hands. Superintendant of police N. Shashikumar said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle as he was driving at high speed. “There was an explosion in the engine before the bus caught fire. Preliminary investigation show the driver was over speeding," he added.
The dead may include the driver Nawaz who is missing, a couple Kaleem and Sameera Banu, and their children Kaif, Roman and Aman. A DNA test will be done to confirm their identities.
Fourteen passengers haiÂled from Bengaluru, 12 from Mumbai, four from Pune and a couple from South Africa. The KSRTC has sent 28 passengers onwards to Maharashtra on a special bus after treating their injuries.
Heroism in the face of tragedy
They are all heroes. While software engineer Prashant Pande, 25, employed in an IT firm in Pune, kept his wits about him and saved the lives of 15 other passengers, by breaking open a window in the front of the bus, South African Bright Mohammed and Sayyad Altab, a student of the Cottage Public School, broke open other
windows allowing all passengers to jump from the smoke filled vehicle.
Seated in the front of the bus, Prashanth broke open the emergency exit window using his shoulder and head and helped nearly 15 passengers get out before jumping out himself. He received a few stitches on his eyebrows and head which were badly injured in the process, at the Haveri government hospital where he was admitted.
“My hair was burnt in the fire and I was badly injured as I tried to break the window of the bus using my body weight. Most passengers would have been burnt alive if the windows were not broken,” said Prashant, who has returned to Bengaluru.
“I was listening to music on my cell phone when tragedy struck. I woke up all the passengers and helped them out through the windows.
I also rescued my wife Moraine,” said Mr Bright Mohammed. School boy Sayyad rescued his parents and sister before saving himself.
Rural development minister H.K. Patil, who visited the spot, lauded Prashanth and the others for saving the lives of other passengers.
Next: ‘State cannot regulate speed of buses with all-India permits’
‘State cannot regulate speed of buses with all-India permits’
Shrinivasa M. | DC
Bengaluru: Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy who visited the spot of the accident on Thursday blamed the driver’s rash and negligent driving for it.
“The driver hit the roadside divider as he was speeding and lost control of the bus,” he said, claiming the state was helpless in regulating the speed of buses with all India permits as the Union government had allowed them to drive at 120KMPH.
Although the state transport department has issued a notification making speed governors mandatory for all buses and and insisting on them driving at 65KMPH following the fire on the Jabbar Travels bus, it could not impose these rules on buses with all India permits, according to the minister. “I will discuss this issue with the officials concerned over the next two days and write to the Union government,” he assured.
Asked if the department was keeping an eye on bus operators, the minister said it was keeping a check on them state–wide. “Till now the transport department has seized 110 buses for flouting the rules.
I have directed all the officials to ensure that bus operators follow all regulations strictly,” he added. Disclosing that an investigation had been ordered into the latest accident, he said the families of the dead would be given '1 lakh
compensation and the injured provided the best of treatment.
Highways designed unscientifically
Vijay Sankeshwar
There are many reasons for the increasing number of bus accidents on state and national highways. Speeding, unscientific dividers and use of buses for transporting inflammable material are some of them.
Our state and national highways are designed unscientifically and often drivers are not able to locate the dividers placed on them. In our company we have limited the speed of our buses to 90 KMPH. Volvo buses can run at 120 KMPH, but we don’t allow them to in the interest of passenger safety.
There is a small problem with Volvo buses as well. The company that runs them doesn’t listen to its customers and ignores their demands.
For example, as the battery is located in the front of the Volvo bus beneath the driver’s seat, a spark close to it can set the tyre of the bus, made of highly inflammable material, on fire.
At VRL we have made some changes to ensure the safety of passengers and made sure the battery is placed in the rear of the bus.
Also, the transportation of inflammable material like gas cylinders and crackers on buses must be stopped. I am not blaming the police department as it doesn’t have enough personnel but this must be stopped immediately for reasons of safety.
—The writer is a former MLC
