25 passengers charred to death, 8 hurt as bus catches fire on Maha expressway

TIL Desk/National/Buldhana/ Twenty-five passengers were charred to death after the bus they were travelling in caught fire after hitting a divider following a tyre burst on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district in the wee hours of Saturday, the police said.

The private bus was on its way from Nagpur to Pune when it rammed into a divider around 1.30 am at Pimpalkhuta village near Sindkhedraja in Buldhana, around 134 km from Nagpur, they said. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the bodies of the deceased were charred beyond recognition and if the identity of the victims is not established, then DNA testing will be conducted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders expressed grief over the loss of lives. As per the preliminary information, a tyre of the bus burst and the vehicle hit a pole before colliding with a divider and catching fire, he said.