Woman and daughter die in bus fire in Gurugram, Haryana

A woman and her daughter died and 29 people suffered burns when a moving sleeper bus caught fire on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway on Wednesday night.

Following the complaint by the woman’s husband, an FIR was registered at Sector 40 police station here.

Police handed over the bodies to the kin after the post-mortem on Thursday.

A senior fire officer said the bus was gutted. The cause of the fire is not clear and a probe is under way.

According to police, the deceased were identified as Maya (28) and her daughter Deepali (5).

Both, along with the family, were going to their village in Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate Diwali.

Maya’s husband, Dinesh Kumar, in his complaint, said, “We boarded the bus from Gurugram. After some time, smoke started coming out from the back portion of the bus and soon it caught fire. Some of us managed to escape while many others received burns. My wife and daughter were burnt to death.”

Fire Department Deputy Director Gulshan Kalra said three fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Civil Hospital’s Dr Manav said the injured had suffered 30 to 50 per cent burns but were stable.

A senior police official said some prohibited items were kept in the trunk of the bus which caught fire. “We have received details about the owner of the bus and are trying to arrest the driver and helper,” he added.