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Nuh/Haryana: In a shocking and tragic incident, a bus carrying over 64 pilgrims caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway in Haryana on Saturday night. Reports say that scores of 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 bus was carrying over 60 people of a family, including women and children, all of whom were residents of Punjab. The incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m.
A survivor told the media that a onlooker 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.
A motorcycle rider noticed flames at the back of the bus and followed it. He finally caught up to the bus and warned the driver who stopped the bus.
“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,” one of the survivors said.
After the bus stopped, locals informed the police and tried to extinguish the fire and rescue people. After the fire brigade reached the spot, the blaze was doused and the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Locals alleged that the fire officials arrived three hours later after the bus had completely burned down. “We ran behind the bus and broke the windows to pull out as many people as we could before the fire grew too intense. We informed police but they took too long to arrive,” a local said. The cause of the fire is not known.
