“It seems the bus was travelling at a high speed when its fuel tank hit the roadside culvert and caught fire and got burst.The passengers in the bus were burnt beyond recognition.The entire bus has been gutted,” Wanaparthy DSP Srinivas Reddy said.
Police said they had collected the list of passengers from the private bus operators and found that the online booking list had names of 33 bus-passengers and other travellers may have boarded the bus later.
A bus passenger, who survived the accident, and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, said, “All passengers were sleeping when the bus caught fire.Some of us tried to break open the window glass, however, we were unable to do so.I immediately moved towards the emergency (exit) window and broke it and managed to jump out of the bus.”
According to the cleaner of the bus, most of the passengers were sleeping when the accident took place.The cleaner, who has been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad, said he was pulled out of the burning bus by the driver of a car passing through the area.
An eye-witness said he saw the bus going in flames at around 5.15 AM and within 30 minutes it was reduced to ashes. Meanwhile, worried relatives rushed to the office of the bus operator in Lakdi-Ka-Pul area in Hyderabad to collect information.
“When we enquired no details are being given.We are worried. There is no clarity here. They are still collecting the list from their Bangalore office,” some of the relatives said.
