On Saturday, July 1, in a tragic incident, a bus burst into flames on the Samruddhi Mahamarg Motorway in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district, killing at least 26 people. The accident occurred around 1:30 AM early morning on Saturday, while the bus was traveling from Yavatmal to Pune. According to police, the injured are receiving treatment at Buldhana Civil Hospital.
“Around 25 people are feared dead and several others injured after a bus carrying 32 passengers burst into flames on Buldhana’s Samruddhi Mahamarg motorway. The injured are being taken to Buldhana Civil Hospital,” Baburao Mahamuni, Buldhana’s Deputy Superintendent of Police said.
According to the police, the bus was carrying wedding guests when it crashed due to the rainy conditions. According to police, the bus’s diesel tank burst and caught fire.
According to Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasane, the bus driver is safe, SP Kadasane said, that the bus driver has claimed that the bus overturned when a tyre burst. He added that the tyre burst led to a fire inside the bus.
“A total of 33 people were on the bus, with 26 of them passing away and 7 others being injured.” The bus driver also survived and stated that the bus overturned after a tyre burst, resulting in flames inside the bus,” said Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasane.
“The bus was travelling from Nagpur to Pune when it met with an accident at around 1:30 AM. The driver said that the accident took place after a tyre burst, leading to flames in the bus. Later the diesel tank of the vehicle caught fire. There are 3 children among those who died and the rest are adults. The exact reason for the accident has not yet been ascertained,” SP Kadasane added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has expressed grief over the tragic accident and announced ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Taking to Twitter, the Maharashtra CM’s office informed that CM Shinde has ordered an inquiry into the matter.
“Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has expressed deep grief over the horrific accident of a private bus on the Samriddhi highway near Sindkhedaraja in Buldhana district. Expressing condolences to the deceased and their families, the Chief Minister has announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the relatives of the deceased in this unfortunate incident. Expressing that he is distressed by this terrible accident, the Chief Minister has ordered an inquiry into the incident,” CMO Maharashtra’s tweet read in Marathi.
The tweet further stated that CM Shinde talked to Buldhana SP and Collector over the phone immediately after receiving the information about the accident. He instructed the authorities to take necessary measures to help the victims.
“As soon as the information about the accident came, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde contacted the Collector and Superintendent of Police of Buldhana on the phone and took information about the incident. While giving instructions to provide immediate help to the accident victims, the Chief Minister also directed to provide immediate medical treatment to the injured at government’s expense. As soon as the information about the accident came to light, the emergency medical service team deployed for the highway as well as the fire brigade reached the spot and started the rescue operation. The injured passengers were admitted to the hospital,” CMO Maharashtra tweeted.