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Jorhat, April 16: Three persons were burnt to death when a night bus rammed into a trailer and caught fire on National Highway 37 near Kaziranga National Park in the wee hours today.
The private Queen Travels (AS-01-X6680), plying under the Assam State Transport Corporation from Saikhowa (Tinsukia district)) to Guwahati, collided with the trailer carrying cars from Guwahati to Jorhat around 3.30am at Bosagaon, 76km from Jorhat town.
The bus caught fire on impact. The front of the trailer and a few of the cars it was carrying also got engulfed in the flames.
It took 10 fire tenders from Bokakhat to douse the fire.
Local people rushed to the site on hearing the massive crashing sound and helped passengers escape the blazing vehicle.
The bodies of three persons, believed to be drivers of the vehicles and a handyman or a passenger of the bus, were found charred beyond recognition.
A police official of Kohora police outpost said there were about 30 passengers in the bus and about 20 of them were injured. Of them, 10 had minor injuries.
All the injured persons were shifted to Bokakhat first referral unit hospital, Golaghat district civil hospital and Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH).
The cop also accused the local people of being unnecessarily hostile towards the police for alleged delay of firemen.
Two women passengers, who were admitted to the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital with head injuries, were shifted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (Dibrugarh) later in the afternoon.
Deputy superintendent of Jorhat Medical College and Hospital S.M. Sarmah said after examining the CT scan reports of Chandrama Talukdar of Tinsukia and her friend Pobita Gogoi of Naharkatia (Dibrugarh), both in their twenties, they were referred to the Assam Medical College and Hospital for further treatment.
He said Talukdar’s condition was serious but he was out of danger.
Gogoi told The Telegraph that she was accompanying her friend, Talukdar, to Guwahati where she was scheduled to perform (sing) at a Bihu function tonight.
She said she was awake when the bus hit the vehicle.
“As we were in the seat numbers 1 and 2, I immediately pulled Chandrama and came out of the bus by breaking a window with a bar that had broken,” Gogoi said.
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