One burnt to death as moving bus catches fire

A passenger was burnt alive and six others suffered injuries as a bus belonging to a private travel agency caught fire while on move near Kolhapur on Friday midnight.

The bus was heading to Pune in Maharashtra from Belagavi when the tragedy occurred on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway between Gokul Shirgaon and Ujgaon near Kolhapur around midnight.

The engine of the moving bus reportedly caught fire following which the bus driver stopped the vehicle on the spot and fled from the scene along with the conductor. The panicked passengers rushed to alight from the bus. Six of them suffered injuries in the attempt. However one passenger, who was reportedly asleep, was burnt alive. In all, there were 30 passengers in the bus, according to sources.

Eyewitnesses say the bus was completely engulfed in the fire within minutes. Fire and Emergency Services personnel from Kolhapur rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. Because of the incident, the traffic on the NH was thrown out of gear for a few hours.

The Shirgaon Station Police have registered a case.

Published - October 26, 2024 07:21 pm IST