Jodhpur: A day after 20 people were burnt alive in a bus fire in Jaisalmer and another succumbed at a hospital in Jodhpur on Wednesday, the Rajasthan government suspended two officers of Chittogarh District Transport Office for alleged laxity, officials said.
The Jodhpur-bound private sleeper bus, according to primary investigation, was registered in Chittorgarh on October 1 and had several modifications. It was an AC bus but registered as non-AC, they said.
Chittogarh DTO’s Assistant Administrative Officer Chunnilal had conducted inspection of the bus but violations, including modifications against norms, were ignored, according to the officials.
Taking action in the matter, the state government suspended Chunnilal along with Chittorgarh District Transport Officer Surendra Singh Gehlot for laxity, they said.
According to the officials, the primary probe also revealed that the bus had no emergency exit, no window hammers; but a narrow aisle that trapped passengers. Once the wiring caught fire, the automatic door-lock system activated, sealing off escape.
Several bodies were found piled on top of one another inside the bus.
Earlier in the day, Jaisalmer Additional SP Kailash Dan said a jammed door in the bus was the main reason for the high number of casualties. The blaze caused the bus to get locked, preventing passengers from escaping.
“Most of the bodies were found in the aisle of the bus, which shows that people tried to escape but couldn’t because the door was stuck,” Additional SP Dan told PTI.
Barely 10 minutes after departure from Jaisalmer, the ill-fated bus caught fire on Tuesday, leaving 19 passengers dead and 16 injured. Of the total injured, one succumbed to critical burn injuries on way to the hospital the same night.
An eight-year-old boy who was fighting for his life at Jodhpur’s MG Hospital succumbed during treatment early Wednesday, taking the death toll to 21 while four injured remain on ventilator support, a hospital official said.
DNA samples have been collected from the family members of the deceased persons for identification of bodies, they said.
A doctor from the hospital said that after identification, the bodies will be handed over to family members.