A bus caught fire while travelling from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur on October 14. In this accident 20 people, including three children, died and 16 were critically injured. 19 bodies were recovered from the accident spot and one senior citizen died while he was being treated at the hospital. The incident happened near Thaiyat village, 10 km from Jaisalmer city. The injured passengers were first taken to Jawahar Hospital in Jaisalmer for first aid, and then from there they were shifted to hospital in Jodhpur for better treatment. On the Jaisalmer bus accident, Jodhpur District Collector Gaurav Agrawal says, "19 bodies and 16 injured were brought here. Samples from 2 family members of each deceased are being taken for DNA identification. So far, 9 people have given samples. The treatment of the injured is ongoing..."
As per reports, six of the deceased were residents of Jodhpur, 14 were residents of Jaisalmer.
Investigation states that a short circuit in the bus’s air-conditioning system led to gas leak that caused fire. The private bus was a non-AC bus and was recently modified into a AC bus just a week ago. The fire broke out at the front door and hence passengers were trapped inside as the exit was blocked.
The Army’s Battle Axe Division reached the site first to rescue people after the fire broke out. The rescue efforts were led by Major General Ashish Khurana, General Officer Commanding of the division. Local police and villagers helped them too. The fire was put out but the rescue operation could not begin immediately as the metal of the bus remained hot for nearly four hours, said Jaisalmer collector Pratap Singh. The burnt bus was later moved to the nearby Army station.
A major military operation was going on in the city, hence Army vehicles were unavailable to carry the bodies. Later vehicles of the Border Security Force, (BSF) were used for transporting the dead bodies. Many bodies were burnt beyond recognition so they were sent to Jodhpur forensic analysis and DNA testing to confirm identities. Officials managed to identify the bodies of a few victims by October 14 night: Rajendra Singh Chauhan, Hasina, Irfan, Barkat Khan, Gopilal, Ayub Khan, and Nasira.