An investigation into the devastating Kurnool bus fire, which claimed the lives of at least 20 people, has revealed that the vehicle was carrying a consignment of 234 smartphones, which reportedly exploded, thereby intensifying the deadly inferno, forensic experts say, as per a report by NDTV. At the time of the incident, over 40 people were travelling on the bus from Hyderabad to Bengaluru.
The outlet further reported that the smartphone consignment worth Rs 46 lakh belonged to Hyderabad-based businessman Manganath. It was being shipped as a parcel by him to an e-commerce firm in Bengaluru, from where the devices would eventually be delivered to customers. The report added that the eyewitnesses heard multiple battery explosions as the phones caught fire.
What caused the fire in the first place?
P Venkataraman, Director-General of the Andhra Pradesh Fire Services Department, said that the fire initially started due to a fuel leakage after a bike collided with a bus and got stuck under it.
One officer told The Indian Express that the first driver didn’t tell the second driver that, after hitting the motorcycle, he dragged it for a few metres.
“The driver did not tell the second driver that after he hit the motorcycle, he dragged it for at least 300 metres, and this friction could have resulted in that deadly fire,” the officer said.
The fire intensified as the smartphones exploded, and the bus’s air-conditioning system batteries also burst. The heat became so intense that it melted the aluminium floor panels, he added, per a report by NDTV.
He also pointed to the use of lightweight aluminium instead of iron, typically intended to reduce weight and enhance speed, which worsened the situation.
Police action on the case
Police have taken both drivers, Miriyala Lakshmaiah (42) and Siva Narayana (30), into custody in connection with the tragic bus fire. A case was registered regarding the incident on Friday under several sections of the BNS Act.
According to a PTI report, Lakshmaiah woke up Narayana, who was sleeping in the luggage rack at the bottom portion of the bus between the front and rear wheels.
The fire was so intense that they couldn’t enter the bus. That’s when they decided to break the windows of the bus to help as many passengers as they could to safety.
Lakshmaiah, however, fled the scene when the fire intensified. He is booked for negligence and overspeeding.