Jaipur: Eight people, most of them from Madhya Pradesh, were killed and 28 were injured after a private sleeper bus rear-ended a multi-axle trailer truck on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan’s Dausa district in the early hours of Wednesday.The collision triggered a devastating blaze in which six passengers were burnt alive and charred beyond recognition, while two others died later of severe head injuries.The accident, according to a police technical report accessed by TOI, unfolded around 2. 50 am when the air-conditioned sleeper coach travelling from Haridwar to Indore with 36 passengers on board collided with a truck coming in the same direction.The impact was followed by what survivors described as a loud explosion, with fire engulfing the bus within moments and leaving passengers scrambling to escape through thick smoke and intense heat.A senior police officer said both the bus and the trailer caught fire immediately after the collision and were completely gutted.Rescue teams recovered the bodies of six passengers trapped inside the burning bus and shifted them to the mortuary at Dausa district hospital. Two critically injured passengers later succumbed to their injuries at the same hospital, taking the death toll to eight.Authorities said visual identification of six bodies was impossible given their condition, and DNA profiling has been initiated to establish their identities before the remains can be handed over to families.“There were 36 passengers in the bus. Eight died and 28 were injured. Twelve injured passengers are undergoing treatment at Dausa district hospital, while 16 were discharged after receiving primary treatment,” a police officer said.According to the technical documents accessed by TOI, the passengers whose identities are being established through DNA profiling include Priyanka Pandey and Deepak from Khargone district, Nirmala and Dharm Singh from Indore district, Bhumi Bhor from Dhar district and Deep from Sehore district — all in Madhya Pradesh.The bus, operated by Hans Travels, was being driven by one Rajeev Rathi, with Kuldeep serving as the conductor. Police suspect both were among those killed in the accident.Police have detained the driver of the trailer truck for questioning.An FIR was registered based on the statement of one Sunny Tawar, 34, a passenger on the bus and a resident of Khargone district of MP. In his statement, Tanwar said he heard a loud explosion, after which the bus swerved into trees planted along the median. Thick smoke rapidly filled the coach as passengers tried desperately to escape the flames spreading through the bus.Officials said both the bus and trailer were reduced to skeletal frames, and even three hours after the fire was extinguished, teams continued searching the burnt-out wreckage for evidence.Police said each body has been assigned a unique identification number. DNA samples will be collected from family members and matched with samples from the bodies before they are released.A villager involved in the rescue operation said trapped passengers could be heard screaming for help from inside the burning coach.The Dausa district collector has constituted an inquiry committee to investigate the cause of the accident.
