At least nine people, including six women, were burnt alive and 15 injured when a moving bus caught fire near Tauru in Haryana’s Nuh district in the early hours of Saturday. The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway.
President Droupadi Murmu, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini have condoled the deaths.
The bus was carrying around 60 people, all residents of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, who were returning from pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan. All of them are relatives, according to police.
Inspector Jitendra Kumar, Station House Officer, Sadar Tauru said that the deceased also included three men. All the injured people are stable.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. A probe is underway, Tauru said.
A local resident said that after noticing the fire, some people chased the bus on a motorcycle and asked the driver to stop.
President Murmu said in a post on X, “The news of the death of many passengers in the tragic incident of a bus catching fire in Haryana’s Nuh district is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured.”
Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Gurugram constituency Raj Babbar interacted with a bereaved family member of one of the victims at a hospital in Gurugram.