Jaisalmer bus fire victims tried to escape, jammed door trapped them, probe reveals
A moving AC sleeper bus carrying 57 passengers caught fire on the Jaisalmer–Jodhpur Highway on Tuesday afternoon, killing 20 on board.
A jammed door trapped the passengers of the ill-fated bus that caught fire in Rajasthan, killing 20 people on board. Probe has reportedly revealed that the passengers did try to escape, but couldn't because the door was stuck.
A moving AC sleeper bus carrying 57 passengers caught fire on the Jaisalmer–Jodhpur Highway on Tuesday afternoon. The deadly accident killed at least 20 people on board, and injured 15 others.
One day after the accident, cops revealed that the jammed door prevented passengers from stepping out of the bus. "Most of the bodies were found in the aisle of the bus, which shows that people tried to escape but couldn't because the door was stuck," Kailash Dan, Additional SP, Jaisalmer, told news agency PTI.
There was an automatic door-lock system in the bus which got activated after the wiring caught fire, sealing off escape to passengers, PTI reported.
The door reportedly had to be pried open when Army personnel reached the site to initiate rescue and relief. However, some passengers managed to escape the fire by breaking open the windows, and water from a passing tanker was also used to control the blaze.
According to police, CCTV footage from the bus' departing point in Jaisalmer and the route is also being analysed as the probe proceeds.
Victims' families mourn loss, slam delays
Even as cops assured that the bodies were sent to Jodhpur for DNA sampling and identification, the victims' families alleged a delay in the DNA testing and the absence of medical staff.
The brother of one of the victims said he has been waiting since early morning on Wednesday, but got no answers or support. "Why isn't the CM listening to us? The doctors have not reached the hospital yet... We have suffered losses, and everyone will raise this issue for a few days, and then the issue will die down... Why will the doctors come at 11 am?," the brother was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The relative questioned why the DNA test was delayed to 11 am, and said: "The whole system wakes up for criminals even at midnight, but there's no one here at the hospital for the common man. I have lost my brother. You are not seeing what we all are going through."
‘Bodies burnt without recognition’
Rajasthan Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar also confirmed that a door on the bus was jammed, which led to passengers getting trapped inside. "There was only one door on the bus, which got jammed. Most passengers could not escape. The Army recovered what bodies they could, but some were burnt to ashes beyond recognition," he said.
The bus was headed to Jodhpur from Jaisalmer. Smoke in the rear portion of the bus was observed at about 3:30 pm on Tuesday, about 20km from the starting point in Jaisalmer.
There was also no emergency exit on the bus and no window hammers. The aisle, where most passengers were found dead, was also very narrow.
