Unsafe modifications made to facilitate sleeping arrangements as well as inflammable goods, such as an LPG cylinder and mobile phones, in the luggage compartment had made the V. Kavery Travels bus a high-risk vehicle, said officials of the AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department and the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL).
They added that this made the fire, which started due to petrol leaking from the damaged fuel tank, a raging inferno and gutted the bus within minutes, leading to the deaths of 19 passengers.
Speaking to The Hindu on Saturday, in-charge Director General (DG) of the AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department, P. Venkata Ramana said the owner had made many unsafe modifications. “Cheap leather, seat covers, curtains, plywood and other material used in the sleeper coach caught fire immediately,” he said.
The emergency exits were not opened, neither were the cabin and the main doors of the bus. Passengers had little chance of escaping from the leaping flames, he said.
“As per the CCTV footage available and eye-witnesses, flames engulfed from the front side of the bus and leapt eight to ten feet high,” the Director General said.
APFSL Director G. Pala Raju said as the air conditioners were on and oxygen levels were high in the sleeper coach, flames spread within no time.
“According to the analysis, the bus fire occurred between 2.55 a.m. and 3 a.m.,” he said.
“The fuel tank of the bus got damaged and petrol spilled on the road underneath the bus which was the main cause of the mishap. The mobile phones and an LPG cylinder carried in the luggage cabin, violating the rules, aggravated the fire,” Mr. Pala Raju said.
The bus was carrying over 100 mobile phones in the luggage cabin, which exploded after the fire. “The bus driver booked the order for the mobile phones and loaded the boxes in the luggage cabin,” Mr. Pala Raju said.
“We collected 83 samples of the burnt materials, including burnt luggage, engine parts, seat covers, damaged cell phones, doors, melted wind shields and other objects from the spot,” said Mr. Pala Raju.
Of the 16 FSL teams, four are working on physical analysis, two on chemical analysis and the rest on DNA preservation.
“The other materials that got burnt in the luggage cabin need to be verified. The APFSL is trying to find out the other material loaded in the luggage cabin. Forensic experts are trying to find out the primary and secondary causes for the fire,” he said, adding that chemical analysis will reveal how the fire started.
“We will analyse the reports of the Fire Services, APFSL and Transport Departments, CCTV footage, statements of the survivors and eye-witnesses’ accounts. A detailed report will be submitted to the government,” a senior police officer said.