In a tragic incident which burnt twenty five passengers to death after a bus caught fire on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district on Saturday, Maharashtra Police suspected that "human error" caused the accident.
Contradicting the driver's claim that the private sleeper coach caught fire after hitting a divider following a tyre burst, an official of the state highway police said that the driver dozed off and lost control of the vehicle.
The accident occurred at 1.30 am at Pimpalkhuta village near Sindkhedraja, killing 25. Eight others, including the driver and the cleaner of the bus, survived as they managed to come out of the broken window, according to the police.
Though the bus driver said it was due to a tyre burst, a probe is going on to ascertain whether it was due to a human error as it was dark, he said. The bus caught fire after its diesel tank burst following the accident, the police official said.
Meanwhile, a report by the Amravati Regional Transport Office said that a tyre burst could not have caused the accident on Samruddhi Expressway as there were no pieces of rubber or tyre markings at the scene.
Government to form committee
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Saturday announced that a committee of experts will be formed to study the reasons behind frequent accidents on Samruddhi Expressway.
He said maximum accidents on Samruddhi highway are taking place owing to human error with drivers dozing off. “We will do everything that is possible to ensure that these accidents don’t occur again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ruled out poor quality of roads as being responsible for the accident. “It’s not right to speak on the construction quality of the expressway," he said.
The government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the victims.
