A major tragedy was averted on late Tuesday night in South Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area after a bus with over 55 people on board, including 27 women and children caught fire. The driver of the bus jumped from the moving bus which later hit a divider. However, nobody was hurt in the mishap.
According to a senior police officer, a team of Delhi police personnel and some other people acted promptly to rescue nearly 55 members, mostly women, of a marriage party from a burning bus on the Haryana-Delhi border late on Tuesday night.
The bus was returning from the wedding ceremony in Haryana's Faridabad to Delhi's Jaitpur area when it caught fire around 1.30 am near the Surajkund border police picket. “The front side of the bus caught fire and its automatic doors got locked,” said Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast).
“A police team, led by Pul Prahladpur police station personnel, ground staff of Badarpur border and some people there reacted immediately and rescued all passengers from the bus by breaking its glass windows.
“The action was so prompt that the rescue work was done before the Police Control Room received the call. Two fire tenders later reached the spot and doused the fire but the bus was completely burnt,” Biswal said.
All the passengers are residents of Saurabh Vihar in Jaitpur. The driver, identified as Sonu, jumped off and fled, leaving the passengers crying for help, said a senior police officer.
“The bus came to a halt after hitting a divider and the alert police staff, including Sub-Inspector Hari Singh at the police post, rescued the passengers,” said the officer.
“They also informed the control room and the Fire Department but it took 45 minutes for fire tenders to reach the spot,” he added.
“Some passengers sustained minor burn injuries and were discharged after first aid treatment in a hospital, while Umesh, 28, and Gondi Devi, 90, who received major burns are undergoing treatment,” he said.
According to the officer, it appears the leakage of CNG caused the fire but an investigation is on.
