National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday said a detailed forensic probe is continuing to identify the reason for the recent cause of a fire in a passenger bus near Katra town, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Four persons were killed and 24 others injured on Friday when a fire ripped apart the moving bus, mostly carrying devotees, near Nomai, about 3 kilometers from Katra, shortly after it left for Jammu from the base camp. A team of NIA inspected the wreckage of the bus on Saturday and collected samples during their one-and-a-half-hour stay at the scene.
“NIA has extended all requisite assistance to J-K Police in the investigation of the case of passenger bus catching fire near Katra on Friday. The detailed forensic probe is continuing to identify the reasons for the cause of the fire,” the agency said in a tweet.
Though the survivors and the people residing in the vicinity of the incident spoke about hearing a sound of an explosion in the bus, Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh on Friday said the initial probe does not point to the use of any explosive.
"The bus caught fire on its way from Katra to Jammu. The cause of the fire is not confirmed yet", Singh had told reporters at the scene of the incident, adding a forensic team is looking into the cause of the fire.
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