Jaisalmer Rajas than Bus Fire: How did the fire break out on the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur highway, what mistake of the bus owner was caught?

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🔥 Catastrophic Failures: AC Sleeper Bus Inferno on Jaisalmer-Jodhpur Highway Kills 20; Owner’s Fatal Mistake Exposed

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan – A horrific bus fire tragedy on the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur Highway on Tuesday afternoon has claimed the lives of 20 passengers, who were burned alive inside an AC sleeper bus. The fire, which erupted around 3:30 PM, was so fierce that it turned the vehicle into an inescapable death trap.

The tragedy wiped out entire families. Among the deceased were five members of one family traveling together, and a young couple who were returning from their pre-wedding photoshoot. The condition of the remains is so severe that victims are unrecognizable, forcing authorities to prepare for DNA sampling for identification, a grim process set to begin today.

The key question dominating the investigation is: How did the fire start, and what prevented the passengers from escaping?

Conflicting Theories on the Fire’s Origin

While a definitive cause awaits a full forensic investigation, three primary theories are circulating regarding the source of the catastrophic blaze:

1. AC Compressor Failure (Official Suggestion)

Rajasthan State Minister Gajendra Singh suggested that the fire likely originated from the bus’s mechanical systems.

“We heard a loud explosion from the rear,” the minister stated. “We suspect the AC compressor pipe may have burst.”

This theory is often linked to the intense heat and confined space of an AC sleeper bus. The blast, combined with gas and diesel, would have rapidly fueled the devastating fire.

2. Hidden Firecrackers (Eyewitness Accounts)

A more disturbing claim comes from locals who witnessed the aftermath and were among the first to arrive at the scene. They allege that the fire was spread by illegal fireworks stored in the bus’s luggage compartment (dicky).

Local witnesses claim that the bus’s storage compartment was loaded with firecrackers and gunpowder. They believe that the heat of the bus caused the highly flammable material to ignite, leading to an explosion and the rapid spread of the inferno.

The Minister acknowledged that the explosion heard could have been from bombs or firecrackers, not just the compressor, reinforcing the urgency of a thorough FSL investigation into the contents of the storage area.

3. Electrical Short Circuit

A third claim suggests a simple electrical short circuit initiated the blaze. Given the complexity of a sleeper bus’s wiring, especially in the AC unit or charging points, this remains a standard possibility that investigators must rule out.

Regardless of the ignition source, the initial fire quickly became unstoppable, but the high fatality count was sealed by a critical, foreseeable failure in the bus’s safety design.

The Fatal Mistake: No Escape Routes

The horrific number of people burned alive is largely attributed to a crucial mistake by the bus owner—a flagrant disregard for basic safety norms.

Survivors and eyewitnesses have confirmed the deadly design flaws:

Single Exit Point: The bus, despite its large capacity and sleeper configuration, possessed only one main door for ingress and egress. This singular entry/exit point became immediately blocked and overwhelmed, creating a chokehold for those desperately trying to escape the flames.
No Emergency Exit: Crucially, the bus was found to have no functional emergency gate or alternate exit.
Missing Safety Tools: Eyewitnesses reported that there were no window-breaking hammers (known as ‘safety hammers’) available inside the bus. This meant that passengers could not smash the windows to create alternative escape routes.

The local representative at the scene lamented the consequences of this negligence:

“The bus that met with the accident was a relatively new vehicle. Despite this, it had neither an emergency gate nor window-breaking hammers. This is why most people couldn’t get out.”

The physical evidence of the tragedy underscores the point: several dead bodies were found stuck to one another, fused together as they desperately tried to climb over each other to reach the single exit. Rescuers, including the Army personnel who assisted, found it extremely difficult to separate the remains.

The Administration’s Response and the DNA Dilemma

The immediate aftermath was a scene of chaos and despair, with relatives arriving and frantically searching for their loved ones. The state of the 20 bodies recovered, however, has made visual identification impossible.

“It has become difficult to identify the 20 people who were burned alive,” a local official stated. “Their identification can now only be done through DNA sampling.”

The process to collect and match DNA samples is set to begin immediately, offering the only path to closure for the shattered families.

The government, through Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, has promised full assistance and compensation to the victims’ families. However, the focus now must pivot from compensation to accountability. The discovery that a new commercial vehicle lacked basic, mandated safety features like an emergency gate and safety hammers suggests a severe oversight by the bus owner, a potential criminal violation that directly contributed to the high death toll.

The state is now gripped by the question of how many other commercial vehicles operating on its highways are likewise putting passengers at fatal risk due to similar safety compromises. The outcome of the investigation into the bus owner’s liability will be closely watched by a public demanding justice for the victims of this avoidable disaster.

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