Horrific bus accident on Samruddhi Expressway in Buldhana claims 25 lives

A tragedy occurred on the 1st of July on the Samruddhi Expressway in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. The private bus caught fire and twenty-fire passengers who were travelling were burnt to death. There were 33 passengers on board but eight of them survived. The private bus was en route from Nagpur to Pune when it collided with a divider around 1.30 am at Pimpalkhuta village near Sindkhedraja, Buldhana.

Survivors of this fateful accident said that they escaped from the burning bus through by breaking the windows. Buldhana Police Superintendent Sunil Kadasne said that eight passengers were admitted to a nearby hospital and are safe. The driver who managed to survive was interrogated and a police arrest process was underway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and other significant political leaders expressed grief over the tragic incident. An ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakhs and Rs 50,000 is being given the PMO to the deceased’s relatives and injured respectively. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde has announced Rs 5 lakh financial aid for the families of the deceased. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the bodies of the deceased were charred beyond recognition and if the victims' identity is not established, then DNA testing will be conducted.

In a tweet, the prime minister’s office (PMO) said, “Deeply saddened by the devastating bus mishap in Buldhana, Maharashtra. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected.”  Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted in Hindi, in this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.

 Vidarbha Travels (name of the bus) left Nagpur for Pune at 4 pm on the previous day. The bus halted at Karanja in the Yavatmal district for dinner and the accident happened in the early morning hours. The tyre burst causing the vehicle to crash into a pole and ram into a divider and eventually, the bus caught fire.

A senior police official from Buldhana said, “After hitting the divider, the bus fell on its right side with the entry/exit door facing the sky. Within minutes, the vehicle caught fire. Some of the passengers were able to come out of the broken windows from the rear side.”

When the CM of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde got the tragic news, he immediately contacted the Collector and Buldhana Police Superintendent on call and instructed them to take charge of the situation and provide help to the accident victims.

Fadnavis expressed grief over the unfortunate accident and said that a smart system is being installed on the Samruddhi Expressway to prevent accidents. “The system will check the speed of the vehicles and alert them. But it will take some time. Until then, we will have to create awareness among drivers at the toll booths on what precautions to be taken to prevent accidents at night.” He did not comment on the poor quality of construction of the expressway, but said that, “Only vehicle error and human error have been noticed in the accidents that occurred on the expressway so far.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase-I of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg in December last year. Since the inaugural, 143 people were critically injured and 236 received minor injuries in the total 358 accidents that occurred on the Samruddhi Mahamarg.