Fiery ordeal of passengers

The bus fire in which 20 people were roasted alive calls for stricter rules to ensure safety of passengers, especially those travelling during nights. The bus on a Hyderabad-Bengaluru routine nightly trip caught fire near Kurnool on the night intervening between Friday and Saturday.

The cause of the accident is stated to be the wreckage of a motorbike left at the spot by a duo who had crashed it against the median. The sleeper bus caught fire as a result of wreckage hitting the fuel tank and inflammable cargo bursting into flames.

While the intoxicated rider had died as a result of collision, the one on the pillion had fled the spot. Probe so far reveals that the bus driver could not notice the wreckage and dragged it for some distance.

The luggage hold carrying 300 smartphone with lithium-ion batteries is said to have ignited the flames with explosive effect engulfing the entire body of the bus in a jiffy, allowing no time for passengers to exit from the resulting inferno.

The accident could may well be one of its own kind with inflammable cargo being the reason for the fire. The so-called tourist buses ferrying passengers on overnight routes customarily carry huge loads of car go which may range from 3,000 to 4,000 kilograms.

Transporters usually cite them to be only source of profit. It is not known if they violate any transport rules while being meant for passengers. If yes, the rules need to be framed for fire audit of the luggage prior to loading of the consignment.

Emergency doors, which remained jammed in this case, seem to be a mere fanciful addition serving no purpose. A watch fulcaretaker at the door might have mitigated the impact of the tragedy.