Haryana: Bus Carrying 64 Devotees Catches Fire At Kundali-Manesar-Palwal Expressway; 8 Burnt To Death

In a shocking and saddening incident, a bus carrying more than 64 pilgrims caught fire at Haryana's Kundali-Manesar-Palwal Expressway on Saturday interjecting night. The reports said more than devotees lost their lives and dozens were injured. When the bus caught fire, these devotees were returning from a pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh.

The incident took place at around 1.30 am.

A survivor told the media that a by-passer motorcycle rider noticed flames at the back of the bus and followed the bus to be aware of people sitting inside the bus and the driver.

The driver immediately took the bus aside and stopped it, to cross-check.

"We had hired the bus to go on a pilgrimage to holy sites for 10 days. We were returning home on Friday night. We smelled smoke while we were sleeping. The bus stopped after the motorcycle rider alerted the driver," a survivor said.

Noticing the massive fire, locals also gathered around and informed the police and firefighters immediately. They also tried to rescue people and extinguish the fire.

Reacting swiftly, emergency help reached the spot within minutes and rushed the injured to a nearby hospital.

A police official said that the reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained and confirmed that eight passengers were burned alive. Their deaths were confirmed by the doctors in the hospital.

Sharing grief over the deaths of the people, Haryana's Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed said, "I would say that this is a very painful, sad and heart-wrenching incident. The devotees were returning from Vrindavan. The bus caught fire and several people including elderly, women, and children got injured."