‘Firefighters reached late’

“We lost our two drivers Sunil and Amol Misal and conductor Rupesh in the mishap. We have been in this business for 20 years,but have never seen such an accident where both buses have caught fire and so many passengers have died. We will bear the medical expenses of all the injured passengers who were in our bus. Also,we would be giving financial compensation to the family of the deceased,” he said.

Jayant Chorghe,a resident of Balaji Nagar in Pune,who survived the accident,said,“Police arrived about an

hour after the accident,while help for rescuing citizens arrived almost after two hours. The front portion of the bus had caught fire right after collision and exiting it from the door was impossible. We had to get out thorugh the windows.”

When contacted,Dilip Bhujbal,superintendent,state highway police,admitted that it took a while for help to reach the spot.

“The spot where the accident took place is a remote area and far from big cities. We do have emergency rescue arrangements. But this was a state highway and the timing of the mishap was odd. So help reached late,due to which casualties may have increased,” he said.