Families identify victims as jammed door blamed for high casualties in Jaisalmer bus fire
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma personally reviewed the rescue and medical response, and called the incident “deeply tragic”.
Twenty passengers were burnt alive and 15 others sustained critical burn injuries after the private bus travelling to Jodhpur on Tuesday afternoon caught fire, barely 10 minutes after it left Jaisalmer.
Kailash Dan, Additional SP, Jaisalmer, said the fire caused the bus door to get locked, preventing passengers from escaping.Most of the bodies were found in the aisle of the bus, which shows that people tried to escape but couldn’t because the door was stuck,” he told PTI.
The bus caught fire near the Army War Memorial. The Army personnel reached the site quickly and joined the rescue operations. The door had to be pried open, while a few passengers managed to escape by breaking windows. Water from a passing tanker was also used to Jaisalmer SP Abhishek Shivhare said that 19 charred bodies were recovered from the bus and 16 critically injured were rushed to hospital in Jodhpur.
One passenger died on the way to Jodhpur.
“The bodies were sent to Jodhpur for DNA sampling and identification. They will be handed over to families after matching is confirmed by the Forensic Science Laboratory,” he said.
Police officials said that the number of people inside the bus at the time of the incident is being verified.Twenty people have died and 15 are undergoing treatment. No missing person has been reported yet. We are verifying the number of the persons. CCTV footage from the bus’ departing point and the route has been collected and is being examined,” the Additional SP said.
He said that the forensics teams have been inspecting the site since last night.
“Initial indications suggest a short circuit, though other possibilities like firecrackers in the bus are also being probed,” he said.Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, as soon as he received information about the incident on Tuesday evening, ended a scheduled meeting in Jaipur midway and started coordinating with officials present on the ground.
At the meeting attended by ministers Kirori Lal Meena, Gautam Dak and senior officials, Sharma informed everyone that due to the seriousness of the situation, he would be heading to Jaisalmer.The chief minister then proceeded to Jodhpur and met with families of the victims. He instructed doctors to provide the best possible medical care to the injured and reviewed the availability of critical care infrastructure in the burn unit, including ventilators, oxygen support, ICU beds, and essential medicines.
A dedicated medical monitoring team has been deployed to ensure round-the-clock care in Jodhpur.
Sharma also directed that the families of the injured be provided with proper accommodation, meals, and all necessary support within the hospital premises.