Child among 9 killed as tourist bus goes up in flames near Nuh; broke open windows to jump out, say survivors

The bus had 60 people on board — 35 women, 21 men, and four children including the driver and the conductor — who had left Punjab on May 10 to visit temples in Uttar Pradesh including Vrindavan, Mathura and Ayodhya; they were returning home on Friday night. Many of the passengers were related, and this was part of their 30-year-old annual ritual.

Four fire engines brought the fire under control.

Based on a complaint by a passenger, Rakesh Kumar from Jalandhar, police registered an FIR.

“We were returning home from Vrindavan around 11 pm Friday. On reaching the KMP

expressway, our bus suddenly caught fire… we told the bus driver to pull over, but he did not do so immediately. When the smoke got denser, the driver stopped the bus. The vehicle was engulfed in flames by that time… Many of us jumped out — passersby helped several passengers to get off the burning bus and also admitted them to hospitals… The incident took place due to the negligence and carelessness of the driver. Legal action should be taken against him,” Kumar alleged in the complaint.

According to the Parivahan website, the bus was registered in December 2023 and the required tourist permit, insurance and certificates were intact.

‘Only bones remained’

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ritika Kakkar, who lives with her husband in Uttarakhand, said her parents were on the bus — while her father managed to get out, her mother could not.

“My father called me… We left home at 2.30 pm and reached the hospital around 8 pm. My brother and father saw (my mother’s) body. There was nothing to see, only bones… I did not want to see the remains… The fire spread quickly and she was trapped inside… My parents have been going on this trip for 30 years now. The bus was new this year, yet this happened.”

Staring off into the distance, Ritika’s father Manmohan recounted that the bus was shut tight. Passengers who could not reach the door broke open the windows to get out in desperate attempts to escape the blaze.

Rohit Sharma from Hoshiarpur said he received a call about the incident from his brother Mohit who was on the bus. “Mohit told me he had raised an alarm, but the driver paid no attention… My cousin Gautam got off the bus, but then realised that his mother Shashi was inside, so he boarded the bus again… both of them died,” Rohit told The Indian Express.

Later in the day, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini expressed grief over the loss of lives in the fire incident, while assuring the best possible treatment to those injured. Former CM Manohar Lal Khattar also extended his condolences to the families of the victims. President Droupadi Murmu, condoling the loss of lives, prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. Raj Babbar, Congress’s candidate from Gurgaon for the Lok Sabha polls, meanwhile, visited the kin of the victims at the hospital.

Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata said a forensic team from Madhuban is on their way to Nuh to determine the cause of the fire. SHO (Sadar Tauru) Jitender Kumar said further investigation is on to trace and nab the absconding bus driver.