Jaisalmer bus fire: Jammed door trapped passengers, bodies being verified

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma personally reviewed the rescue and medical response, and called the incident "deeply tragic".

Jaisalmer/Jodhpur: A jammed door in the AC sleeper bus that caught fire near Jaisalmer was the main reason for the high number of casualties, police said on Wednesday.

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 control the blaze.

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 directed authorities to establish a green corridor to facilitate the smooth transfer of the injured from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur for advanced treatment," an official said.

Sharma reached Jaisalmer at night and visited the site. He acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of the Indian Army and local civilians in rescue and relief operations, the official said.

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.

He spoke with local legislators, party workers, and administrative officials in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, appealing to them to assist in relief efforts. He also instructed Cabinet Minister Madan Dilawar to remain in Jodhpur to oversee the situation.

Rescue officials described the bus as a "fireball" that gave passengers little time to react. It was a newly registered vehicle, which was only on its fourth journey. The bus had departed Jaisalmer around 3 pm and was scheduled to pick up more passengers along the route.

A policeman, citing eyewitness accounts, said that a loud blast was heard from the rear of the bus, believed to be from the AC compressor. The resulting blaze was intensified by diesel, AC gas, and fibre-based interiors.

"There was only one door on the bus, which got jammed. Most passengers could not escape. The Army recovered what bodies they could, but some were burnt to ashes beyond recognition," Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said.

Primary investigation reveals that the bus had no emergency exit, no window hammers and had a narrow aisle that trapped passengers. Once the wiring caught fire, the automatic door-lock system activated, sealing off escape.

Several bodies were found piled on top of one another inside the bus.

The injured include two children and four women. Some have up to 70 per cent burn injuries. All were first taken to government hospital in Jaisalmer before being referred to Jodhpur.

Jaisalmer District Collector Pratap Singh Nathawat said rescue operation was launched immediately. "All 19 recovered bodies have been sent to Jodhpur for DNA-based identification," he said.