Buldhana: According to one of the survivors, he and a few others were able to escape the flaming vehicle by shattering the back window of the bus that caught fire on Saturday, killing 25 people and leaving many more injured in Maharashtra's Buldhana district.
The private passenger bus was travelling from Nagpur to Pune when it crashed into a road divider at 1.30 a.m. on the Samruddhi Motorway near Sindkhedraja in Buldhana. According to police, 25 of the bus's 33 occupants perished in the fire.
The bus's tyre exploded, and the bus caught fire. The fire quickly spread, the survivor reported.
By shattering the back window, "the passenger seated next to me and I were able to escape," he explained.
The witness added that police and fire crews responded immediately to the scene of the accident.
According to a witness, four or five people were able to flee the bus by smashing a window.
"But not everyone could do it," he admitted.
Those who were able to exit the bus later said they had flagged down passing cars for assistance on the highway, but no one had stopped to help.
There are frequently mishaps along this stretch of road near Pimpalkhuta. We responded to the emergency call and found a terrible predicament. "The tyres were completely shot," the local claimed.
The inmates inside were attempting to smash the glass. The victims of the fires were seen by us...There was nothing we could do because of how severe the fire was. "We were sobbing," he explained.
More lives may have been saved, he said, if drivers on the highway had stopped to offer assistance.
Eight survivors of the bus tragedy have been rushed to a nearby hospital and are safe, police said.—Inputs from Agencies