The charred remains of the bus on Thursday

Bangalore, Nov. 14: Seven passengers, including a toddler, were charred to death when a Mumbai-bound Volvo bus hit the concrete railing of a bridge and caught fire in a north Karnataka town. Today’s mishap comes days after 45 people were charred to death when a Hyderabad-bound Volvo bus hit a culvert and caught fire.

Like in the October 30 incident, over-speeding might have played a role in today’s early morning accident when most passengers were asleep. Six of them suffered serious burns, while 19 others were discharged after first aid.

Initial investigations reveal that the diesel tank of the bus, inducted into service only 40 days ago, caught fire when it hit the concrete side-guard of Kunimeli bridge at Haveri around 2.45am. The spot is 330km from Bangalore.

Passengers recounted that a loud explosion woke them up.

“All I knew was that a deafening explosion woke me up. I went for the emergency window and broke it open and managed to push out at least 20 passengers,” said Mumbai resident Prashant. He was later rushed to the district hospital with burns on the right side of his face.

The bus, owned by Bangalore-based National Travels, had left the city on Wednesday night with 43 men, six women and the toddler on board. “The bus was speeding when it crashed against the side railing made of concrete. Almost all passengers were sleeping,” said Haveri superintendent of police M. Shashi Kumar. “The bodies are charred beyond recognition and it will take DNA tests to identify them.”

Police have booked cases against the driver, who escaped in the dark, and Shakeel Ahmed, a partner of National Travels. Ahmed is the brother of JD(S) MLA Zameer Ahmed.

State transport minister Ramalinga Reddy who visited the spot in the afternoon confirmed the over-speeding angle. “The bus was in good condition and had all the necessary papers. The reason for the accident seems to be over-speeding,” he said.

The minister said while the state government was willing to bear all medical expenses of the injured, some of them wanted to go home. “We will investigate this incident as we want to know why so many buses are meeting with fire accidents.”

A statement from Volvo said: “At this stage we cannot represent the sequence or cause of the event as investigations are continuing in this regard by the relevant authorities. We will offer all cooperation to the authorities and agencies investigating this accident.

“We already have a team of technical experts in place who will be investigating this accident along with the support of global safety experts.”

While the state government announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the dead, National Travels said it would give Rs 5 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.