‘Emergency exit did not open’: Lapses under probe as Greater Noida bus fire kills 9

A non-functional emergency exit, luggage packed into the aisle and under the seats, and passengers in a rush to deboard may have left them with few options to escape after the AC sleeper bus caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida late Wednesday, killing nine people.

Police said they are now examining these possible safety lapses as part of the investigation into the fire, which engulfed the bus travelling from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba within minutes.

The bus had three doors – two at the front and an emergency exit near the last seat. But according to police, the emergency exit was non-functional and passengers were unable to open it.

“The door did not open as it was not functional. The bus was also overloaded with luggage. Bags and sacks were kept on the roof, under passenger seats, stacked in the aisle and in the vehicle’s storage space,” a senior police officer said.

Police said they are investigating whether the luggage further obstructed movement and access to the emergency exit as passengers tried to flee.

The fire started in the driver’s cabin and spread rapidly towards the rear of the bus, police said. The luggage also caught fire, with the flames quickly engulfing the vehicle.

“Many passengers were carrying electrical items, including black wires and switchboards, which may have aggravated the fire,” the officer said.

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Further, according to the police, several elderly passengers were sleeping on the upper berths. “When the smoke engulfed the bus, they tried to come down. But passengers sleeping on the lower berths also started moving, and they could not move forward. Their bodies were found stacked on top of one another,” the officer said.

Moreover, police said they are probing whether the passengers’ warnings about a burning smell were ignored by two drivers and the conductor, who have been arrested.

According to their statements, some passengers alerted the driver and conductor about 2-3 km before the bus caught fire, after smelling something burning. “They went inside the cabin, but did not stop. We are trying to verify these claims,” the officer said.

The drivers and the conductor allegedly refused to stop the bus despite being alerted about a burning smell and told passengers, “die if you want to, but we won’t stop the bus,” according to the FIR lodged in the case.

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By Friday evening, more than 36 hours after the fire, all nine bodies had been identified following multiple rounds of identification by relatives. Police are conducting DNA sampling to confirm the identities as the bodies were charred beyond recognition.

While seven of the deceased were from Uttar Pradesh, Devendra Sahay Bharadwaj was from Hisar in Haryana, and Shruti Rawat was from Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

Police said they are investigating the role of the bus owner, whose travel company operates around 30-35 buses.

The bus had All India permit issued in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and other required documents, they said. “It had around 20 pending challans for traffic violations, including speeding and jumping signals. Some of the challans were between Rs 18,000 and Rs 26,000,” an officer said.

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“The three arrested men – the two drivers and the conductor – do not have any criminal cases against them in the city, but we are checking their records in other cities,” the officer added.