Bus-tanker collision leaves four dead, ten hurt near Chotila

Rajkot: Four people were charred to death and ten others injured after a private bus caught fire after slamming into a bitumen-laden tanker on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway near Chotila after midnight on Wednesday, police said.

The accident occurred between 1am and 1.30am near Sangani village in Chotila taluka of Surendranagar district. Police said the bodies of the deceased were burnt beyond recognition.

According to police, a bus operated by Madhuram Travels rammed into the rear a tanker loaded with bitumen, that had stopped on the highway because a tyre had burst.

Police sources said the bus had left Ahmedabad around 10pm and was heading to Akolwadi in Talala taluka with 27 people on board, including the driver and helper.

As the bus struck the rear nozzle of the tanker, there was a short circuit, causing a massive fire inside the bus. Flames spread rapidly as bitumen leaking from the tanker also caught fire on the road.

Passengers smashed windows and jumped out of the burning bus to save themselves. Residents, hotel workers and passersby rushed to help rescue those trapped before emergency services arrived.

Police, fire brigade teams and ambulances reached the scene shortly afterwards. The injured were first taken to the Chotila govt hospital and later to hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad for advanced treatment.

Authorities said the highway was blocked for one and a half hours, with traffic restored through police-arranged diversions.

The charred bodies of four victims were recovered from the bus around 5am with the help of fire brigade personnel and sent for postmortems.

Police said the identities of the deceased are yet to be officially confirmed. However, the bus driver, Siddharth Pari, helper Kishan Parmar, and passengers Jafar Khichi and his wife Nashim Khichi are missing.

DNA samples have been taken for identification and the test reports are expected by Friday evening. According to sources, Nashim’s brother had died a few days ago and the couple were going to Junagadh for funerary rites.

The injured persons are residents of Ahmedabad, Junagadh and Gir Somnath districts.

Senior officials, including deputy collector Haresh Makwana and deputy superintendent of police Subodh Bhadoriya, visited the accident site.

Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage from the highway to determine the exact cause of the accident and assess if there was negligence by the tanker driver or bus driver.

Among the injured was Narendra Rathod, a BSF officer travelling from Ahmedabad to Talala while on leave. Despite his injuries, he helped rescue several passengers.

“My brother Narendra was asleep when the accident happened. He escaped by breaking a window and helped others get out before being taken to hospital,” his brother Kirit Rathod said.

An eyewitness, Ajay Mevada, said the fire spread rapidly after the bus struck the bitumen-laden tanker.

Another passerby, Nagraj Rala, suffered burns on his feet while helping passengers escape and was later taken to Rajkot Civil Hospital.

Police registered a complaint at Chotila police station and further investigation is underway.