A woman passenger died and at least 10 persons were injured when the bus they were travelling in caught fire on Tuesday morning after it came under contact with a live high tension wire hanging loosely. The incident happened near Kaliyar area. The bus was going to Roorkee from SIIDCUL. The angry villagers later demonstrated against the electricity department officials, alleging that their negligence had led to the incident.
It is learnt that the bus was carrying passengers who were employees of an industrial unit in SIIDCUL. They were going home after they had completed their night duties. According to the eye witnesses, at least 10 people were injured. A woman passenger was rushed to a local hospital from where she was referred to a higher medical centre where she succumbed to the severity of the burn injuries.
Police said that the passenger who died has been identified as Nisha, 22, from Inayatpur. She had sustained severe burn injuries, said Kaliyar thana in-charge Pramod Kumar. “Employees of Alps company were travelling in the private company bus which caught fire after it came into contact with a live high tension wire that was hanging loosely. The passengers were scared. They jumped out of the bus through the windows. Many of them were injured,” he added.
Later, fire tenders rushed to the site and doused the flame through an hour-long operation.