On 1st July, Amravati Regional Transport Office (RTO) submitted a report suggesting speeding and tyre burst could not have caused the Buldhana bus accident that took away the lives of 26 passengers. On 30th June, a bus from Nagpur to Pune on the Samruddhi Expressway overturned and caught fire at around 1:32 AM in Sindkhedraha, Buldhana. There were 33 passengers onboard, out of which 26 were charred to death.
In its report, RTO said they did not find any pieces of rubber or tyre markings at the scene. The report includes the information provided by the survivors. It noted that there was no evidence of rubber pieces that are generally found after a tyre burst. Furthermore, no tyre markings were found on the road. There was an impact marking on the wheel disc that was bent instead of the tyre.
A survivor told RTO officials that the bus hit a steel pole on the right side of the road, following this, the driver lost control over the vehicle and hit the divider. Furthermore, the impact on the front tyre that hit the divider was so severe that it dislocated the assembly from the bus chassis. After the front tyre hit the divider, the bus again hit the divider from the right side of the diesel tank.
Following the accident, the front portion of the bus hit the road, causing friction that generated heat resulting in fire. The engine oil temperature was already high as the bus was in on mode. In the absence of the front axle that dislocated due to the accident, the vehicle overturned on its left side. It got dragged on the road, causing further damage and burning it vigorously. The passengers could not get out because the entry and exit gates of the bus were on the left side. Furthermore, the emergency door became inoperative due to the impact.
The report noted that the bus took two hours and 24 minutes to cover the 152 KM stretch from the entry point of the expressway to the spot where the accident occurred. The bus entered at 11:08 PM, and the accident occurred around 1:32 PM. The average speed of the bus would be 70 KMPH, the report said. That means the speed could not have caused the accident.
Earlier, it was reported that the bus driver identified as Danish Sheikh, was detained by the state police and booked under Sections 304, 279, 184 and 134 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The driver, during the interrogation, claimed to the police that the accident occurred after one of the tyres of the bus burst on the Samruddhi Expressway. According to the reports, the conductor of the bus, identified as Arvind Jagtap, has also been taken into custody by the police and is being interrogated in the case. Jagtap was not booked in the matter.
