234 smartphones, 12 KV batteries, fallen bike: What caused the deadly Kurnool bus fire
According to forensic experts probing the case, the fire in the bus may have been intensified due to the explosion of a smartphone consignment inside the bus.
As many as 19 people were charred after a bus going from Telangana's Hyderabad to Karnataka's Bengaluru burst into flames on National Highway 44 (NH-44) on the outskirts of Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool in the early hours of Friday.
Contrary to earlier reports of the bus ramming into the bike, police said probe has revealed that the bus, operated by V Kaveri Travels, had run over a bike lying on the highway after it had met a road accident, following which fire erupted in the bus, leaving little to no time for the passengers, most of whom were asleep, to escape.
Also read: Kurnool bus fire: Two-wheeler skid killed bike rider moments before collision
The bus was also carrying a consignment of cell phones in its luggage department. Those, along with the electric batteries attached to the bus’s AC system, are suspected to have caused the explosion in the bus as it ran over the bike.
What caused deadly Kurnool bus inferno?
The luggage department of the bus was carrying some 234 brand-new phones worth ₹46 lakh which were being shipped from Hyderabad to Bengaluru by a trader identified as Manganath.
According to forensic experts probing the case, the fire in the bus may have been intensified due to the explosion of those smartphones, Hindustan Times reported earlier.
“These new mobile phones stored in the luggage cabin of the bus might have caught fire and exploded, aggravating the blaze,” said Andhra Pradesh Fire Services Director General P Venkataramana. He added that some eyewitnesses heard popping sounds during the fire and that lithium batteries of the phones may have burst due to intense heat, aggravating the flames.
He also said that apart from phone batteries, the electric batteries attached to the AC system of the bus also exploded because of intense heat. Additionally, the spilled petrol from the bike may have also caught fire during the crash, he said.
However, Kurnool Range deputy inspector general of police Koya Praveen downplayed the role of the smart phones in the explosion. He said there were two points of combustion — the fuel tank of the two-wheeler that the bus ran over and its impact on the bus’ batteries.
"That (two-wheeler fuel tank) wasn't the major cause of fire. The tank got burst and fire erupted exactly at the main exit door. And behind the main exit door there were bus batteries, two 12 KV batteries. These batteries exploded," news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
He also added that highly combustible materials that the bus was furnished with, such as metallic paint, also added the fire.
