Boy charred as bus catches fire

A three-year-old boy was burnt to death and seven others were injured when the bus they were travelling in caught fire in Bidar district in the early hours of Friday.

The bus, belonging to a private travel agency, was on the way from Shirdi to Hyderabad. The police said the mishap could have occurred due to short circuit and had no connection with the ongoing Cauvery row in Karnataka. The child, identified as Vihaan Ram Prasad, was a native of West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. He lived with his family in Hyderabad.

According to the police, the driver of the (PY 01CK 9522), with 32 passengers on board, noticed sparks emanating from the engine just after the crossed Humnabad and alerted the second driver. Both tried to extinguish the fire and woke up the passengers who were in deep sleep.

People from a nearby eatery also came to the rescue of the passengers who exited through the main door, the emergency exit and by breaking the window panes. In the confusion, Vihaan got left behind.

Vihaan’s parents Roopa Prasada, a software engineer in Hyderabad, and mother Venkateswari were admitted to a local hospital for medical treatment.

“One boy was killed in the fire. There is no connection to the incident with the Cauvery water agitation. It could have happened due to a short circuit in the vehicle engine,” Bidar superintendent of police Nikham Prakash said.

Police found that the vehicle did not have a valid fitness certificate, and this was not verified at any transport department check post enroute Shirdi till Zaheerabad. The police registered a case against the transport company.

When an alarm was raised for fire on the bus, everyone scrambled out including the parents of Vihaan Ran Prasad, who was left back and was charred.

The cause of the fire could be electrical short circuit; it has no connection with the Cauvery river water agitation in Karnataka