'We were terrified'

Mukesh Chaudhary, a Std IX student who suffered burn injuries after his school bus caught fire, tells Kranti Vibhute

Mukesh Chaudhary, a Std IX student who suffered burn injuries after his school bus caught fire, tells Kranti Vibhute

The school bus came to pick me up at 6.35 am yesterday. I was standing, as usual, with my friends Salman, Vipul and Apoorva and two other younger students.

I wavedu00a0 to our driver Vishwanath Phadtare and cleaner Anil. I went and sat on the last seat.

Smell of fuel

After picking up other students on the route, the bus reached Cosmo Amardham Club at 6.50 am. That's when Ronit, who was seated next to me, and I smelt fuel. I realised my seat had got very hot.

Charred:The school bus that caught fire at Panvel yesterday.

Then, I saw smoke comingu00a0 from the aisle and fire following immediately. We started shouting in fear and stood on the seats.

Looking at us, the driver immediately stopped the vehicle and the students seated near the door started jumping out.

By now the seats too had caught fire. Some students jumped over the seats,u00a0 reached the bus's door and got out.

Those of us at the back tried to get out through the windows. Soon, the traffic police arrived and helped other students to come out through the windows.

22 injured

At least 20-22 students got burns on their legs, hands and back. I got burns on my right hand, my legs, ears and nose.

The traffic cops rushed us to a hospital in whichever vehicle they could find on the road.

I filed my complaint against the driver and the owner of the bus who didn't check whether it was in a good condition to drive school students.