Officials said the passengers first noticed smoke in the rear portion of the bus at about 3:30 pm, about 20km from the starting point in Jaisalmer.
BARMER: Twenty people were burnt alive and more than a dozen others were injured when a fire broke out in an air-conditioned bus on the Jaisalmer–Jodhpur highway and quickly spread through the vehicle on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Pokaran MLA Pratap Puri said 19 bodies were found in the bus while one passenger died on the way to Jodhpur. Puri also told PTI that the authorities have decided that DNA tests would be used to confirm the identity of the deceased.
Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma condoled the deaths and reached Jaisalmer as the scale of the tragedy emerged.
Jaisalmer Municipal Council’s assistant fire officer Krishanpal Singh Rathore said about 15 passengers, including four women and three children, had sustained severe burn injuries.
Eight ambulances carrying 16 injured passengers have left Jaisalmer for Jodhpur 250km away. A green corridor has been created on National Highway 125, with police personnel deployed along the route to ensure that ambulances reach the hospital as quickly as possible.
Officials said the passengers first noticed smoke in the rear portion of the bus at about 3:30 pm, about 20km from the starting point in Jaisalmer.
The bus with 57 passengers was headed to Jodhpur.
The fire spread through the bus before all the passengers could get off.
Local villagers and passersby alerted the authorities. Three ambulances were used to shift some of the injured to Jaisalmer’s Jawahir Hospital.
Officials said many passengers had burns on their faces, hands, and legs. The fire is suspected to have started in the vehicle’s air conditioning unit and spread rapidly.
Ameen Khan, who was near the War Museum at Thaiyat village, said the bus was already in flames when he first saw it.
“People were screaming for help. One man had collapsed on the ground. I took one severely burnt person on my bike and rushed him to the hospital. Many people are still being treated,” said Khan.
There has been no official word on the number of casualties in the incident.
Sharma condoled the deaths in the “extremely heart-wrenching” incident. The chief minister added that instructions had been given to the authorities concerned to ensure proper treatment for the injured and to provide all possible assistance to those affected.
