A catastrophe was narrowly avoided on Sunday morning when a double-decker AC sleeper bus caught fire near the Revri toll plaza on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, adding to a growing list of deadly bus infernos that have rocked India in just one month.
The incident occurred around 4:45 a.m. when a 44-seater private sleeper bus travelling from Delhi to Gonda via Lucknow suddenly caught fire barely 500 metres before the toll gate.
There were 39 passengers onboard, all of whom miraculously escaped unhurt after quick action by alert travellers and nearby police teams.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze within an hour, and an alternate vehicle was arranged to continue the passengers’ journey.
However, this near-miss adds to an alarming national trend. The Lucknow incident marks the fifth AC double-decker bus fire in just a month — and while this one spared lives, others have ended in horrifying tragedy:
- Andhra Pradesh: Earlier this month, a double-decker sleeper bus travelling from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam caught fire after colliding with a lorry in Nellore district, leaving 19 passengers charred to death and several others critically injured.
- Rajasthan: A luxury sleeper bus on the Jaipur–Ahmedabad route went up in flames after an electrical short circuit, killing multiple passengers trapped inside before rescuers could reach the spot.
- Etawah, Uttar Pradesh: A Delhi–Lucknow AC double-decker bus was gutted by fire, though passengers managed to escape moments before the flames consumed the vehicle.
- Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh: Another double-decker AC coach caught fire under similar circumstances, turning into a shell within minutes — a frightening echo of the Etawah tragedy.
With five such incidents in a single month, investigators are warning of a systemic safety failure. Experts cite possible causes such as faulty wiring, overheated AC compressors, fuel leakage, and lack of fire extinguishing systems in private fleet buses.
Authorities across states have now launched urgent inspections of AC sleeper buses, while the Union Transport Ministry is expected to issue new safety directives soon.
For passengers, though, the question looms large — how safe is India’s luxury bus travel anymore?
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