Woman, daughter die as bus catches fire in Barmer district

A 25-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter were charred to death when a moving passenger bus caught fire in Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Sunday morning, the police said.

The Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) bus, carrying 13 passengers from Jaipur, was on its way to Barmer when the accident took place at 5 am near Khed Road in Balotra, about 100 km from the district headquarters.

Devendra Singh Kaviya, station house officer at Pachpadra police station in Barmer, said the bus caught fire soon after it left Balotara city, where it had stopped for a brief period.

According to police, the driver and the conductor tried to evacuate the passengers. The bus was being evacuated after the fire was detected near Khed village in Barmer, Singh said.

Twelve passengers were able to get down but the fuel tank exploded while Rekha and her daughter were still on the bus, he added.

The deceased has been identified as Rekha, wife of Ajit Singh and their daughter Kavya.

The charred bodies were handed over to their family after postmortem, the SHO said, adding that a case has been registered under section 174 of CrPC and is under investigation.The cause of the fire hasn’t yet been ascertained, police said.

Both the driver and the conductor were rushed to the local hospital after they fell unconscious due to smoke.

BARMER: TWELVE OTHER PASSENGERS WERE ABLE TO GET DOWN BUT THE FUEL TANK EXPLODED WHILE REKHA AND HER DAUGHTER WERE STILL ON THE BUS