‘Smoke, panic, and broken glass everywhere’: Survivors recount Kurnool bus fire tragedy that killed 20

One of the survivors from the bus, Subramanian A, recalled that smoke quickly filled the bus. “The person next to me woke up and said there was smoke in the bus. I panicked and tried to hurry towards the front door, but it was closed,” he told The Indian Express.

The 26-year-old software engineer, who was on his way from Hyderabad to Bengaluru for work, said, “I was not able to see anything, but someone broke open the emergency exit in the back, and I saw an opening and jumped out. We all panicked.”

Another survivor, who did not want to be identified, said there was “broken glass everywhere, the seats were broken and cries of infants could be heard”.

“The base permit issued to the bus was from Odisha authorities and was valid till April 2030,” officials from Andhra Pradesh said. (Express Photo)

“I climbed out of the rear window of the bus and jumped. By that time, the bus was already engulfed in flames,” the 41-year-old said.

A passenger and his mother, who were booked to travel on the bus, are “missing”, his friend said. According to Subash, he had booked tickets for Kishore and his mother, P Baby, on the bus. “I booked the tickets for them as they had travelled to meet relatives in Hyderabad. Kishore is a dear friend and he is missing. His mother, too, is missing. I am lost for words,” said Subhash, who works for a private company in Bengaluru.

Permit from Odisha

Officials in Andhra Pradesh said the bus had all the required permits and got its licence to operate from the Odisha Road Transport Authority.

According to authorities, the bus is owned by Vemuri Vinod Kumar from Rayagada in Odisha, and was purchased in May 2018. It was registered in Daman and Diu the same year, and the registration was then changed to Odisha on April 29, 2025. “The base permit issued to the bus was from Odisha authorities and was valid till April 2030,” officials from Andhra Pradesh said.

The fitness certificate was issued by Daman and Diu and is valid up to March 2027. The insurance on the bus is valid until April 2026.

The bus departed at 8.30 pm from Patancheru in Hyderabad and picked up passengers from various locations in the city before heading on to the highway. (Express Photo)

Fire after collision

The bus departed at 8.30 pm from Patancheru in Hyderabad and picked up passengers from various locations in the city before heading on to the highway. Most of the passengers were employed in Bengaluru and were returning after celebrating Diwali at their homes in Hyderabad.

Officials said the bus caught fire after it came in contact with a motorcycle. “The bike, when it hit the bus, lost control and ended up under the bus. The fuel tank of the bike combusted, leading to the fire in the fuel tank of the bus,” a top police officer told The Indian Express.

“The bus had the required permits from road transport authorities to ply. The point of combustion was the fuel tank of the bike,” the police officer said.