An APSRTC bus driver was charred to death while 12 passengers had a miraculous escape when a fire broke out on the Nizamabad-bound bus after it collided with a DCM van at Bowenpally in the early hours of Tuesday. The injured passengers were stated to be out of danger while the deceased was identified as Gangadhar, a driver of Armoor bus depot.
The bus on its way from Nellore to Armoor had stopped at the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad for a break before resuming onward journey at around 3 a.m. After the bus crossed the Bowenpally police station, it collided head-on with a DCM vehicle carrying maize. Soon after the collision, a fire broke out in the driver’s cabin.
About 40 passengers, who were fast asleep, woke up hearing the loud noise and clambered out of the bus with the help of passersby. Twelve passengers, who suffered injuries were admitted to the Gandhi hospital where there condition is stated to be stable.
“Efforts to rescue the driver who was trapped in the cabin proved futile and driver Gangadhar was charred to death in the raging fire,” ACP Begumpet B. Manohar said. He added that diesel tank of the bus might have burst due to the impact of the collision, resulting in the fire. The DCM was also completely gutted ,” he said.
