4-year-od dies as bus catches fire in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain

UJJAIN: A four-year-old child burned to death after an intercity express bus parked at a hotel caught fire late Thursday night on the Agra-Mumbai National Highway in Madhya Pradesh’s Tarana area in Ujjain district. More than 50 passengers were on board.

The sleeper bus, travelling from Indore to Gwalior, had stopped for tea and snacks at hotel Jain Path — about 20 kilometres from Shajapur town — when smoke began rising from the bonnet. Within minutes, fire engulfed the vehicle.

Tarana SHO RNS Bhaduria said the incident took place around 15 km from the police station. The bus driver had kept the engine running. The fire was most probably caused due to a spark near the engine.

Passengers alleged that the smell of burning wires had been noticeable for much of the journey and that some had warned the driver, who ignored them. Passenger Malti Sharma said the tragedy could have been averted had the driver stopped for a check in time.

In the chaos that followed, passengers broke open windows to escape. The child, Anya Jain, was pushed under a seat in the stampede and could not get out. His body was recovered nearly two hours later and sent for post-mortem to Shajapur district hospital, Bhaduria said.

The child's father, Abhishek Jain, who was travelling with his wife and two children to Shivpuri, said the bus had neither an emergency exit nor a fire extinguisher. “My child burnt to death. I fold my hands before the media — no other child should die like this. My future has been burnt,” he said. He also alleged that the first fire engine to arrive had no water.

Five fire tenders from Maksi, Tarana and Shajapur eventually doused the blaze. The bus driver and cleaner fled the scene. Police from Maksi and Tarana stations reached the spot.

Jain later handed over jewellery recovered from the burnt bus to the police.

Police have registered the death, and the cause of the fire was being investigated.