After 2 misses, luck ran out

In one of the worst highway accidents in West Bengal in recent years, at least 45 passengers of a bus were charred to death in their sleep e...

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In one of the worst highway accidents in West Bengal in recent years, at least 45 passengers of a bus were charred to death in their sleep early this morning when it hit a truck, fell into a ditch and went up in flames on Bombay Road, about 40 km away from Kolkata. The bus was travelling from Baripada in Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district to Kolkata.

Another 15-odd passengers, many of them badly burnt, are fighting for their lives at different hospitals in Howrah. The state government’s official death toll is 37. So far only 23 bodies, including that of a woman and two children, have been identified. According to survivors, the bus was carrying about 70 passengers, more than allowed on such long inter-state routes. A mass funeral of the victims is planned at Baripada tomorrow.

The accident occurred around 4.30 am, when almost all the passengers were asleep. According to eyewitnesses, despite the thick fog at that time of day, the bus was running at high speed. It hit a Kharagpur-bound truck that was carrying a huge quantity of paints and other chemicals, which reportedly ignited the fire. Flung up, the bus fell into a wayside canal, filled with slush. The truck was also reduced to ashes.

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Chandu Lal Patel, who runs a petrol pump 200 metres from the accident spot, saw two only unhurt survivors, brothers Purnendu Behra and Prasanta Setty, in their early 20s. Prasanta said they were sitting in the rear and broke open a window to escape. The survivors also include the driver and cleaner of the bus.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has ordered an inquiry into the ‘‘extremely unfortunate incident’’.

Howrah Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar, who supervised the rescue, said: ‘‘Preliminary inquiry has revealed that the driver of the ill-fated bus had two other narrow escapes. In Jhargram and Kolaghat, on the route, the bus had met with minor accidents. It could also be established that it was running at high speed even though there was thick fog. ’’

The Orissa Transport Minister and Mayurbhanj officials have arrived in Kolkata to try and establish the identity of the passengers and gear up rescue and relief measures. But their task won’t be easy as most of the bodies are badly charred.

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‘‘The flames almost rose up to 150 metres, forcing us to keep off the site,’’ said H.S. Rahman of Panchla village. According to him, the police and fire tenders arrived almost an hour late, and ‘‘by then almost everything was over’’.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced ex-gratia assistance of Rs 25,000 to next of kin of the passengers. All shops, roadside vendors and hotels downed shutters in Baripada today as a mark of respect for the dead.

(with inputs from Bhubaneswar)