Samruddhi Expressway Bus Accident. Why Did 25 People Burn to Death So Gruesomely?

On 1^st July, twenty-five people including three children were burnt to death in a luxury sleeper coach or bus on the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway. Both the Prime Minister and Chief Minister have announced compensation for the deceased and an inquiry has also been ordered to find the cause of the accident. Sounds familiar doesn't it.

The bus crash, in which 25 passengers were burnt alive, is not just sad, but also shameful. Image only for representational purposes. Source ANI.

The driver who survived with minor injuries claims that a tyre burst and the bus veered to the right and after hitting a pole and an embankment wall, overturned on its side. The police have said there are no tyre marks or signs of skidding to indicate this happened. They suspect the driver fell asleep or was not attentive enough and that is why the bus crashed. The police have also registered a case under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the driver.

Sleeper buses or coaches are very popular for intercity travel in our country. Image only for representational purposes. Source Citizen Travels.

Out of the many news reports I have seen, just one said, "According to a police officer, the fire engulfed the sleeper bus instantly because of the mattresses on board." This is what needs to be noted. As happens often in our country, nobody is raising the real issues and asking why 25 of the 33 occupants of the bus, were scorched to death within just a few minutes. Some villagers and onlookers have said that they were moved to tears when they saw the trapped passengers in the bus screaming for help while being burnt alive. But the flames were so strong that they could just not approach the bus to help. This is also visible in some of the videos available online.

This is the typical interior of our sleeper coaches. Note how narrow the passage is. Image only for representational purposes. Source Citizen Travels.

So let me ask the questions that need to be asked. Why were the passengers trapped inside the bus? Why did the fire spread so fast and why was it so ferocious? What fueled this fire? Before I provide my point of views, I would like to clarify that I have not been to the accident spot and neither have I personally inspected the vehicle. But I have very closely studied the videos and photos available online, and have few observations based on my knowledge of automobiles and driving experience.

The usual kind of sleeping space in our sleeper coaches. Note the multiple metal roads. Image only for representational purposes. Source Citizen Travels.

As mentioned earlier, this was a sleeper bus or coach, which have become very popular for intercity travel in India. The bodies and interiors of majority of such sleeper buses are built by aftermarket coach builders and few OEMs offer fully built sleeper buses too. But converting a bus into a sleeper coach with bunk beds placed parallel to each other and above one another, is no easy thing. Installing these beds uses up a lot of space and leaves little room for free movement. The bunk beds themselves are cramped and jumping in or out is not easy. In fact if you look at some of the sample photographs here, you will see that the passage between the bunk beds is also really narrow and only allows for movement of one person, in any one direction. It's almost impossible for two people to pass or stand or walk besides each other. And in an emergency, such a constrained space will restrict speedy evacuation.

In such a sleeping space, one is also surrounded by highly inflammable materials. Image only for representational purposes. Source Citizen Travels.

But this is not the main problem. There are a couple of other factors that I feel could be responsible for the 25 humans being burnt to death. Study the sample photos here, and you will notice that there are lots of rods, pipes, angles, and so on within the interior to enable the fitment of the bunk beds, mattresses, curtains, etc. It's almost like a metal bird cage or spiders web. And shockingly, this maze of metal rods and angles even covers many of the windows that could be used as emergency exits. And in my view, the hapless and innocent passengers got trapped in this "Sleeper Coach Cage", and were burnt beyond recognition. Yes, if their coach also had a similar design to the ones portrayed here, even if the passengers wanted to exit through the windows, they would not have been able to. Given this, I think a proper forensic study of the bus needs to be done to confirm my suspicion that most of the windows were blocked.

An under construction sleeper coach. Note the number of metal rods and wooden panels around the windows, which make it impossible for any of them to be used as emergency exits. Image only for representational purposes. Source Citizen Travels.

Now let's examine what fueled the fire. From the visuals available online, one can see that after the driver crashed the bus, its diesel tank ruptured and the spilled fuel must have been ignited by the sparks given off when the bus slid and fell on its side. When you examine the sample pictures published here of the typical interiors of our sleeper buses, you will observe they are packed with highly inflammable materials like curtains, bed covers, mattresses, pillows and what not. There is also extensive use of fast burning synthetic fabrics and toxic rexines and PVCs, not to mention synthetic glues, etc. It's a really highly combustible combination, akin to a "Fire Bomb".

Note the use of thick velvet's and decorative wooden panels and metal grilles that make it impossible to exit from this window. Image only for representational purposes. Source Coach Builders India.

In such a scenario, the unfortunate passengers stood no chance. They were cramped for space with hardly any room to move quickly. Their exits were perhaps blocked and they were surrounded by highly inflammable materials, which not only burn fast, but also release toxic gases while burning. I am extremely sorry to say this, but in my studied opinion, these 25 passengers were victims of badly driven, designed and built sleeper buses. And this is not an accident but murder.

Note the metal rod in the center running across the full length of the window. Image only for representational purposes. Source Chouhan Travels.

Such sleeper buses were once common and popular in China too, because of their cost and convenience. But I believe after several fatal accidents, they were banned in 2012 due to safety issues. But in our country these death traps with their inflammable materials and mess of metal rods and extra fitments that restrict movement and block exits, continue to be popular.

In this configuration you have seats below and beds above. But it's equally cramped. And also full of a maze of metal. Image only for representational purposes. Source MSRTC.

In any airplane, you are not allowed to even keep a small paper bag in the emergency exit row. But in majority of our sleeper coaches most windows that could be emergency exits are blocked. Again on an aircraft you are not allowed to carry any inflammable items, and even dried coconut that could be combustible, is banned. However, the interiors of most of our sleeper coaches are crammed with highly ignitable materials. And the sad thing is that even after such a major, and shocking and shameful incident of 25 citizens getting burnt alive, nobody is talking of this. Instead stupid things like whether the bus had a valid PUC certificate and if its ownership, registration and tax papers were in order, is being investigated! Are we really so dumb? Is life actually so cheap in our country?