Amravati: A tyre burst could not have caused Saturday’s bus accident on Samruddhi Expressway, in which 25 persons were charred to death, as there were no pieces of rubber or tyre markings at the scene, the Amravati Regional Transport Office (RTO) stated in its report.
The RTO report, which was based on survivors’ accounts, said there was no evidence (rubber pieces of tyres after burst) or tyre markings at the spot, and the impact marking was on the wheel disc, which was bent, and not on the tyre itself.
A bus carrying 33 passengers from Nagpur to Pune on the Samruddhi Expressway overturned and caught fire in Sindkhedraja in Buldhana at 1.32 am, killing 25 occupants.
As per the details provided by one of the survivors, the bus dashed into a steel pole on the right side of the road, leading to the driver losing control of the vehicle, which then hit the divider, the report said.
It further said the impact of the front tyre hitting the divider was so severe that it caused the front axle assembly to dislocate from the bus chassis.
The right side of the vehicle, where the diesel tank is located, again hit the divider, the impact cleaving the bus body, the report said.
After the front axle assembly got dislocated, the front portion of the bus hit the road and the resultant friction generated heat and fire (as engine oil temperature was also high since the bus was in on mode), the report said.
The vehicle then overturned on its left side after getting dragged due to the absence of the front axle, which caused more heat resulting in a blaze, it added.
The bus turning turtle on its left side blocked the passenger entrance-exit and the loss of alignment of the vehicle due to the impact of the accident also made the emergency door inoperative, it said.
The report, however, noted that speed may not have been a cause of the accident since the bus took two hours and 24 minutes to cover the 152-kilometre stretch from the entry point of the Samruddhi Expressway to the spot in Sindkhedraja where the accident took place.
The bus entered the Expressway at 11:08 pm and the accident took place 152 kilometres away at 1:32 am, which means the average speed of the bus was 70 kilometres per hour, the report said.
The bus was on its way from Nagpur to Pune and had started its journey from Vidarbha’s largest city at 5pm on Friday.
It was on the Nagpur-Wardha-Yavatmal-Darwha-Karanja(Lad)-Samruddhi Expressway-Pune route, the report said.
Drivers need to follow rules: CM
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said his government has taken the Buldhana bus tragedy seriously and assured that measures would be taken to prevent accidents on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway.
Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited Pimpalkhuta village where the accident occurred in the wee hours of Saturday.
They interacted with the police personnel, district administration officials and local residents who apprised them of the sequence of the tragedy.
Speaking to reporters at the site, Shinde said drivers of all vehicles need to follow rules related to speed limit.
“So far, most of the accidents on the Samruddhi Expressway have occurred due to human errors. But the government has taken this accident seriously and steps will be taken to ensure that accidents and errors don’t happen,” he said.
Experts would be consulted before putting in place measures to prevent accidents, the CM added.
“They could not be saved as the door of the bus was locked. Eight people could come out. Quick response vehicles, fire brigade, police stationed on the expressway reached the spot on time,” Shinde said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 520-km-long Phase-1 of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg in December last year. Officially named as ‘Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg’, it is a pet project of Fadnavis.
Ahead of its inauguration, CM Shinde had described the Samruddhi Expressway as a game-changer project with the potential to transform the state.
(The copy has been edited by newsdesk)
