Death embraced the five pilgrims hours after they left Rameswaram after offering worship at the Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple on the island.
Thirty-eight men and 35 women from West Bengal were on the ninth day of their pilgrimage to Kanyakumari when their bus caught fire after cooking gas cylinders on board exploded. There were 81 people on the bus, including the driver and the cleaner, and five cooks and a guide. While 76 escaped (70 unhurt and six with burns), five persons, two women among them, died, unable to rush out of the bus, which was gutted.
“I could not understand what was happening. As the bus was running, those in the rear yelled out cries for help, and the driver slammed on the brake. We got down and saw the bus catching fire,” Dulal Chandra Mukherjee, 75, told this correspondent.
Those who died were caught in a commotion, he said. The injured, too, were seated in the rear.
The pilgrims lost their clothes and cash, and a few of them their mobile phones, said Jagannath Roy, 67, of Bankura district. “As the smoke billowed, we just had time to get down,” he said.
“We stood at a safe distance as the fire engulfed the bus and the cylinders started exploding,” Mr. Roy said. The pilgrims paid Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 10,000 each for the pilgrimage.
Guide C. Srinivasan said the pilgrims left Kotalpur in Bankura on August 22 and reached Tirupati on August 26. After darshan at Tirumala, where he joined them, they visited temples at Kancheepuram and Thirukazhukundram and reached Chennai on August 27. “I have been working as guide for 20 years, mainly for pilgrims from northern States, and this is my first worst experience,” he said, tears welling up his eyes.
After visiting Puducherry and Srirangam, the pilgrims reached Rameswaram on Saturday morning.
