The (non-) story of a bus accident in Bihar: Where death toll went from two dozens to zero

When a Delhi-bound private bus from Muzaffarpur overturned and caught fire at NH-28 at Kotwan in East Champaran around 4.15 pm on Thursday, initial reports reaching the state government from Muzaffarpur and Motihari suggested that since only eight passengers could get out safely, the toll, presumably, could not be less than 30.

It was the Muzaffarpur administration that said 42 passengers had boarded the bus from Uttar Pradesh. By 5 pm, most electronic channels and social networking sites lapped up the news. Their toll: Over two dozen casualties.

As the bus fire had not been extinguished and relief and rescue teams were yet to reach, there was no way the government could confirm or deny the toll doing the rounds.

Tirhut Commissioner HR Sreenivasan, however, insisted that there was no confirmation on the number of casualties.

But then, who was paying heed?

Around the same time the accident took place, CM Nitish Kumar, who was at an event in Patna, learnt about it. He said at a time when the state had been organising road safety week, the news of deaths in a Motihari bus accident was painful.

He later tweeted and, as is the practice, also announced a compensation. “Motihari mein Muzaffarpur se Delhi ja rahi bas durghatna mein logon ki mrityu atyant dukhad. Durghatna me mrit Bihar ke logon ke prijanon ko aarthik sahayata di jayegi tatha ghayalon ke samuchit ilaj ka nirdesh diya gaya (It is extremely sad to learn about the deaths of passengers travelling from Muzaffarpur to Delhi at Motihari. Monetary help would be provided to Bihar passengers killed in the accident and instruction has been also given for proper treatment of the injured)”.

PM Modi’s tweet followed: “My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones due to a bus accident in Motihari. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest: PM @narendramodi”.

Further damage was done after disaster management minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav told reporters that more than two dozen passengers were killed in the accident. Some TV channels and news agencies started quoting the minister.

It was not until 7.30 pm that the state government was told that though 42 passengers had booked their tickets on the bus, only 13 boarded from Muzaffarpur and 27 passengers were to board at Gopalganj. It meant the bus had 13 passengers, two drivers, a conductor and a cleaner. Eight injured, who were rescued by locals, were admitted to local nursing homes.

While an injured man told the Motihari administration that there were only 13 passengers on board, another said there were 23. The variance in the claimed number of passengers further confused the administration.

Till then, not a single body was recovered from the bus.

By late evening, teams of NDRF, SDRF and FSL reams reached the accident site. Once the fire was brought under control, gas-cutters were used to cut through the mangled parts of the bus. When disaster management principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit was reached for his comment at that point in time, he said the toll could not be more than seven.

Talking to The Indian Express on Friday, Amrit, however. said: “After a thorough search by NDRF, SDRF and FSL teams, no body or remains of any body were found. We are relieved there is no casualty.”

He, however, added: “We learnt how difficult it is to work under social and electronic media channel.”

A lesson for everyone, indeed.