MUMBAI: At least 25 people were murdered and eight others were injured after a bus caught fire overnight on a western Indian motorway on Saturday, according to authorities.
The bus was on its way to Pune when it collided with a pole and overturned just after midnight, catching fire in its diesel tank, according to senior police official Baburao Mahamuni.
“There were approximately 30-35 people on the bus.” “There have been 25 deaths and eight injuries,” he stated.
The injured, including the bus driver, were taken to a hospital near the disaster site in Maharashtra state, about 400 miles east of India’s financial centre Mumbai.
Police said they were investigating the crash.
“The priority right now is to identify the bodies and return them to their families,” police superintendent Sunil Kadasane was reported as saying by local media.
The bus was enveloped in flames, and the charred wreckage of the vehicle later toppled on the roadway, according to images.
A police officer told reporters that three youngsters were among the fatalities.
“Deeply saddened by the devastating bus mishap in Buldhana,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who have died.” “May the injured recover quickly.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed “deep grief” over the catastrophe and promised 500,000 rupees ($6,100) in compensation to the families of those slain.
Accidents are prevalent on India’s huge network of roadways, which are infamously unsafe and badly maintained.
The main causes are excessive speed, failure to wear helmets (two-wheeler sales considerably outnumber automobile sales), and failure to use seatbelts.
According to a World Bank research released in 2021, India accounts for 11% of global road deaths while having only 1% of the world’s vehicles.
According to the same statistic, 150,000 people die in car accidents in India each year, or one every four minutes.
It went on to say that vehicle accidents cost the Indian economy roughly $75 billion each year, with medical costs and lost income forcing many accident survivors into poverty.
At least 21 people were killed in May when a bus went off a bridge in India, allegedly after the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
In northern India, a bus transporting wedding guests went off the route and plummeted into a steep valley, killing at least 31 people.
Source: AFP
