Charred bodies tumbled out of the burnt bus as rescuers tried to look for survivors in the wee hours of Wednesday. Most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition. In one of the most gruesome accidents on Tamil Nadu's accident-prone highways, a Pollachi-bound KPN Travels' luxury sleeper bus lost control while trying to avoid two trucks racing ahead on NH 4 at Avalur, 100 km from Chennai and fell into a 10-foot ditch.
The bus, carrying 23 passengers, swerved to the left and its silencer and diesel tank rammed a culvert before the vehicle fell into the ditch and caught fire at about 10.45 pm on Tuesday. One passenger had a miraculous escape as he broke open a glass window of the air-conditioned bus and came out before it exploded.
Police confirmed that 22 people, including seven women and a 10-year-old boy, died in the accident that took place at Avalur which falls within Vellore district but close to Kancheepuram. "The accident occurred in a jiffy giving passengers, fast asleep in the bus, little time to escape," pointed out DIG HM Jayaraman. "The bus lost control and hit a culvert before falling into the ditch and exploding, leaving behind only two survivors, the driver and one passenger," he told TOI. As the bus turned on its left, the bus driver, 51-year-old Nagarajan, managed to jump out. As for Karthikairaja, his quick thinking in breaking open the glass window and jumping out helped him escape. But his desperate attempts to pull out his wife before the bus exploded failed. She was among those charred to death.
The bus driver, Nagarajan, who jumped out of his seat seconds before the bus burst into flames, was taken to the accident spot early on Wednesday. He told the police that he lost control of the bus while attempting to avoid hitting two speeding trucks ahead. "Most passengers rolled off their beds when the bus fell into the ditch after hitting the culvert. I jumped out of my cabin and tried to help people. But there was a huge explosion. I was helpless," he said. He then jumped into a bus going on the highway and surrendered before the Vellore North Police. Nagarajan suffered a swelling under his right eye and minor bruises. Police have filed a case of rash and negligent driving, and culpable homicide, not leading to murder against Nagarajan. He has been detained in the Vellore police station. The two trucks have been seized and the drivers detained for questioning.
Fire service personnel and policemen rushed to the spot, but it was too late. They could find just one survivor. The bus driver had fled the spot. Regional Forensic Science laboratory deputy director Dr P Ravishankar, investigating the cause of accident, said the bus must have been travelling at a high speed when the accident occurred. "This is obvious error in judgement. The bus driver miscalculated the space and grazed the side of the lorry," he said. The forensic team say there atleast 200 litres of fuel would have gushed out of the diesel tank killing almost all passengers instantly. "It did not look like a progressive fire," said assistant deputy director A Pari, who was also a part of the investigation team.
Locals joined rescuers in helping to pull out the charred bodies from the skeletal remains of the bus. The burnt bodies were dumped into 16 plastic bags and taken to the mortuary at the Wallajah government Hospital in Vellore district. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced solatium of Rs one lakh to the kin of those killed. Expressing her condolence over the death, Jayalalithaa announced Rs 50,000 to those injured.
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