"I watched my two children burn alive": Recalls Father Who Survived Tragic Bus Fire

Twenty-one passengers were burnt alive after a moving bus caught fire on the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur highway in Rajasthan, India. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon, 14 October. It was a brand new AC sleeper bus.

The bus was carrying around 57 passengers, and out of them, 16 were seriously injured in the horrific fire accident.

Reason behind this fire explosion

Smoke suddenly started coming out of the back of the bus while it was passing through the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur highway. The driver quickly stopped the bus on the side of the road, but within moments the fire spread throughout the bus.

Though the cause of the fire is unknown, authorities suspect a short circuit. They said the bus had been modified and contained a large amount of flammable materials, which caused the accident. Witnesses described a loud explosion, and within minutes the bus was engulfed in flames. Authorities said forensic tests will determine the cause of the fire.

What do victims and witnesses say?

Witnesses reported that several passengers jumped from the bus, but many did not. One of the survivors, Pir Mohammad, said he managed to break the window and push out his wife, sister-in-law, and a child.

But he was unable to save his two children, who were sleeping in the upper bunk. “The fire was so intense that I couldn’t save them. I survived, but they were burned alive,” he told the media.

Umeda Tanwar, the cousin of one of the deceased, said, “He was supposed to return home by the morning bus. We came to know from other survivors that there was smoke in the bus. At first it was thought that someone was smoking. But soon, explosions and fire spread everywhere.”

Among the victims, the heroic action of bus conductor Rafiq Khan stands out. When he saw the fire inside his air-conditioned bus, he acted quickly. He opened the door and let out as many passengers as possible. Then he saw the fire on the roof and quickly moved away.

“Rafiq was checking tickets near the last seat, when smoke began to rise inside. He went forward to open the main door,” his brother Irfan said. “As soon as he reached the center of the bus, the fire came out of the roof, and there was an explosion. He was injured and fell. He dragged himself to the main gate, opened the door, and let out several people.”

“The passengers didn’t have time to get off the bus because the fire spread so quickly,” Mahant Pratap Puri, a lawmaker from the local ruling party, said in a report.

“The bus was new, air-conditioned, and had only one door for entry and exit. Unfortunately, the passengers sitting at the back couldn’t reach the exit and were burned alive,” Puri said.

PM announces compensation for victims

However, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, visiting Jaisalmer to assess relief efforts, wrote on X: “The incident of a bus catching fire in Jaisalmer is extremely heart-wrenching. I express my deepest condolences to the people affected. Instructions have been given to ensure proper treatment for the injured and all possible assistance to those affected.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “saddened by the loss of life,” adding that he “wished a speedy recovery for the injured.”

Modi also said the families of the victims will receive compensation of Rs 200,000 (S$2948) from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, while the injured will receive Rs 50,000 (S$737) each.