Samruddhi Expressway: RTO report rules out tyre burst, speeding in bus accident

On Saturday the Amravati RTO ruled out tyre burst to cause the bus accident on Samruddhi ExpresswayThere were no pieces of rubber or tyre markings at the scene the Amravati Regional Transport Office RTO stated in its reportAccording to the officials 25 persons were charred to death due to the bus accident in BuldhanaThe RTO report which was based on survivors accounts said there was no evidence rubber pieces of tyres after burst or tyre markings at the spot and the impact marking was on the wheel disc which was bent and not on the tyre itselfA bus carrying 33 passengers from Nagpur to Pune on the Samruddhi Expressway overturned and caught fire in Sindkhedraja in BuldhanaThe incident took place at 132 am on July 1 killing 25 occupants and eight persons were injuredAs per the details provided by one of the survivors the bus dashed into a steel pole on the right side of the road leading to the driver losing control of the vehicle which then hit the divider the report saidThe report further stated that the impact of the front tyre hitting the divider was so severe that it caused the front axle assembly to dislocate from the bus chassisThe right side of the vehicle where the diesel tank is located again hit the divider the impact cleaving the bus body the report saidAfter the front axle assembly got dislocated the front portion of the bus hit the road and the resultant friction generated heat and fire as engine oil temperature was also high since the bus was in on mode the report saidThe vehicle then overturned on its left side after getting dragged due to the absence of the front axle which caused more heat resulting in a blaze it addedThe bus turning turtle on its left side blocked the passenger entranceexit and the loss of alignment of the vehicle due to the impact of the accident also made the emergency door inoperative it saidThe report however noted that speed may not have been a cause of the accident since the bus took two hours and 24 minutes to cover the 152kilometre stretchThe bus entered the Expressway at 1108 pm and the accident took place 152 kilometres away at 132 am which means the average speed of the bus was 70 kilometres per hour the report saidMeanwhile Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have reached Buldhana Civil Hospital to meet the injured in the Buldhana bus accident Before reaching the hospital they inspected the site of the accidentDevendra Fadnavis on Saturday ruled out road construction on the SamruddhiMahamarg Expressway as the cause of the accidentwith inputs from agencies