Fire in the bus moving on the highway, passenger killed while getting down, 10 injured

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A fire broke out in a moving passenger bus on the highway in Dasar upazila of Madaripur. The bus was burnt. A passenger of the bus was killed after he was crushed by the wheels while jumping from the moving bus. Apart from this, at least 10 passengers were injured while getting down in a hurry due to the fire spreading in the bus.

The accident took place at Melkai area of ​​Dasar Upazila on Dhaka-Barisal highway around 4:30 pm on Sunday. As the bus caught fire, eager crowds gathered on both sides of the highway. Traffic on the highway was blocked for one and a half hours. Hundreds of vehicles were stuck on both sides.

Talking to the highway police, eyewitnesses and passengers, it is known that a Sakura Paribahan bus was leaving from Barisal to Dhaka at around 3 pm today. The bus collects fuel from one of their own filling stations en route. At that time, the bus driver’s assistant filled a container with petrol from the filling station and stored it in the bus. When the bus went some distance, the container burst open and the oil spilled out and smelled inside the bus. At that time, the driver’s assistant took out a polythene bag and lit a gas lighter to plug the hole. At that time, the fire spread to the bus from the container filled with petrol. Panic broke out in the bus and the bus lost control and hit a tree on the side of the highway. A bus passenger was crushed to death by the wheels while getting down from the moving bus in a hurry. At least 10 passengers in the bus were injured. On receiving the information, the Highway Police and Fire Service members rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Meanwhile, on hearing the news of the fire in the moving bus, the eager crowd thronged the highway. Due to this, heavy traffic was created on both sides of the highway and the traffic was stopped.

Khairul Alam, a passenger in the bus, said that after passing the Bhurghata bus stand, the bus driver’s assistant tried to fix the hole in the petrol container. He was melting polythene and putting it in containers. Suddenly a fire broke out from the container.

Kalkini Fire Service Station officer Khokon Jamaddar said, “We went to the spot as soon as we got the news. I came and saw that the fire was burning. After trying for half an hour with water, I was able to bring the fire under control. No one was found inside the bus. However, one body was found under a wheel on the right side of the bus.

Mustafapur Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mamun Al Rashid said there were about 40 passengers in the bus. As soon as the fire broke out, they were able to get down quickly. A male passenger was killed after jumping from a moving bus. His identity has not yet been found. One passenger was badly burned. He was taken to Dhaka Medical. When the bus caught fire, the highway was jammed. All kinds of traffic was stopped for 40 to 50 minutes due to the rush of eager people.

The OC also said that the exact cause of the fire in the bus was not known. However, two reasons are said by the passengers, one is from the petrol inside the bus, and the second is because the bus engine gets hot. The police are investigating the whole matter.