A DAY after seven persons, including four women, were killed and several injured after a bus caught fire following a head-on collision with another bus near Bardoli town in Gujarat’s Surat district on Tuesday, the police are facing another challenge – identification of the deceased.
As of Wednesday evening, only the body of Ghanshyam Raju Barkale, who was the driver of the bus that caught fire and hailed from Jalgaon in Maharashtra, could be identified. The Maharashtra State Transport bus was bound for Surat from Jamer Bus Depot in Jalgaon.
With the bodies severely charred, the Bardoli rural police on Wednesday took blood samples of four individuals, who are relatives of people who were on board the bus and are missing, for DNA tests.
The bus that caught fire ran on compressed natural gas or CNG, which was previously reported and confirmed police.
Sachin Patil (22), whose mother Manisha was on board the bus, told The Indian Express on Wednesday, “I was at work when my mother called me up around 3:40 pm on Tuesday and told me that she would reach in one-and-a-half hours. After around half an hour, I called her up to ask where the bus had arrived. She did not answer the call. I called her again… made at least ten calls at different time intervals within 15 minutes but got no response. I called up my wife at home and asked her if she had received a call from her mother – she said no. I became worried. My mother had gone to attend a religious function at our native place around 10 days ago.”
He added, “At 4:30 pm, my aunt Sunita Patil, who resides in Surat, called me and told me that the bus on which my mother travelled had met with an accident in Bardoli. I immediately called my brother, Bhavesh Patil, and we both reached the spot. It took us over an hour to travel 50 kilometers and reach Bardoli from Surat. We were told that the bodies of the deceased were severely charred and identification would be difficult. We reached the government hospital where all the bodies are kept but could not identify her. There were relatives of others who also reached the hospital to identify the bodies of their near and dear ones. I later gave my blood samples for DNA matching.”
It is feared that Manisha, 48, was one among the seven passengers who died on the spot.
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Manisha, a resident of Dindoli area in Surat who hails from Mahalpur village in Jalgaon, was among those who boarded the bus on Tuesday. When the bus reached Vyara taluka in Tapi district of Gujarat, bordering Maharashtra, she called her son, Sachin Patil, a diamond polisher, and told him to reach Parvat Patia area in Surat city to pick her up a while later. Manisha’s husband, Rajendra Patil, died ten years ago. The family shifted to Dindoli in Surat around five years ago.
Since Tuesday evening, several people have approached the Bardoli rural police station, the government hospital and the Sardar Smarak hospital in Bardoli town to enquire about the well-being of their near and dear ones.
Among passengers’ family members who gave blood samples for DNA tests are Sachin Patil from Surat, Jagruti Sonavne, of Palghar in Maharashtra, Dinesh Nergapur, a resident of Parvat Patia in Surat city and Charodar Madhukar Patil, a resident of Bardoli.
Bardoli police inspector V A Sengal said, “One family from Nandurbar in Maharashtra is travelling to Bardoli on Wednesday evening to give blood samples for DNA tests, as their relative travelling in one of the buses involved in the accident is missing.”
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As per the police complaint registered by Sopandev Shivsagar, conductor of the bus that caught fire who hails from Jalgaon, 36 passengers boarded the bus, which started from Surat around 7:30 am on Tuesday.
The complaint added, “When the bus was crossing Uva village in Bardoli, another Maharashtra state transport bus jumped the road divider and rammed into our bus, which then overturned. I immediately stepped out of the bus and pulled out five passengers from our bus. Suddenly, an explosion happened on our bus and a fire broke out. Several passengers from the other bus were also injured and started shouting for help. The rescue team, along with the police, arrived soon and the injured were taken to a nearby hospital. I also availed of medical treatment for minor injuries.”
On the basis of Shivsagar’s complaint, the Bardoli police booked the other bus driver, who is undergoing medical treatment in Bardoli, and he has been booked under BNS 106(1) (Causing death by negligence), 125(a) (Act endangering life and personal safety of others), 125 (b) (grievous hurt is caused by endangering life and personal safety of others) and Motor Vehicle Act section 184, 177.
Of the 26 people who have been hospitalised with injuries, 12 patients have been shifted to New Civil Hospital, Surat city; 3 passengers to SMIMER Hospital, Surat city; five to Om Sai Hospital in Bardoli; and six passengers to Sardar Smarak Hospital at Bardoli. The others who suffered minor injuries were discharged after primary treatment.
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Bardoli rural police station police inspector V A Sengal told The Indian Express on Wednesday, “Some among the injured are still critical as they suffered severe head and burn injuries. We have taken DNA samples of four at least four persons whose family members are missing. The samples from the bodies were also taken. The DNA tests will be done at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Surat.”
