"I Escaped, But...": Maharashtra Accident Survivor's Harrowing Experience

One of the survivors of the ill-fated bus that caught fire and led to the death of 25 passengers in Maharashtra's Buldhana district today, said he and a few others managed to come out of the burning vehicle by breaking its rear window.

The accident took place on the Samruddhi Expressway near Sindkhedraja in Maharashtra's Buldhana when the private passenger bus going from Nagpur to Pune hit a pole around 1:30 am. Of the 33 passengers in the bus, 25 were charred to death, police said.

"A tyre of the bus burst and the vehicle hit a pole and caught fire immediately. The blaze spread in no time," the survivor said.

"The passenger seated next to me and I managed to escape by breaking the rear window," he said.

The survivor said that after the accident, teams of police and fire brigade reached the site quickly.

A local resident said four to five passengers managed to escape by breaking one window of the bus.

"But not everyone could do it," he said.

"The people who crawl out or jump out of the bus later told us that they sought help from other vehicles on the highway as people were getting burnt, but nobody stopped," he added.

"Many accidents take place on this route at Pimpalkhuta. We were called for help and when we went there, we saw the horrible situation. The tyres had fallen apart," a local resident said.

"People inside were trying to break the windows and crawl out. We saw people getting burnt alive...The fire was so intense that we could not do anything. We were in tears...," he said.

"Had the vehicles passing by the highway stopped for help, more lives could have been saved," he added.

Eight survivors of the bus tragedy have been rushed to a nearby hospital and are safe, police said.
 

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