The driver and conductor of a bus that caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida allegedly ignored a burning smell and refused to stop despite repeated warnings from passengers, according to an FIR.
Nine passengers were killed after the bus, travelling from Delhi to Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh, caught fire late Wednesday night.
The FIR was registered at the Jewar police station on a complaint by Suneel Kumar, a Hamirpur resident who was travelling on the Raj Kalpana Travels bus.
He said around 30-35 passengers were on board when the bus left Kashmere Gate in Delhi around 9 pm.
According to the complaint, passengers noticed a burning smell from the driver's cabin around 11.30 pm when the bus reached the 33-km mark on the expressway.
Kumar alleged that the driver dismissed the smell as something common in the bus and refused to stop for an inspection. He further alleged that the driver and conductor continued smoking bidis and cigarettes in the cabin, after which flames suddenly erupted near the driver's seat.
When passengers raised an alarm and asked the driver to stop, the two allegedly told them, "If you want to die, then die; we won't stop the bus," the FIR said.
By the time the bus stopped, the fire had spread and the vehicle was filled with smoke, the complaint said. Kumar and several other passengers managed to jump out, while others remained trapped inside.
Several passengers suffered burns and were taken to Kailash Hospital in Jewar, where Kumar was informed that nine people had died, the FIR said.
The complaint accused the driver and conductor of "deliberate, gross negligence, rashness and reckless disregard" for passengers' safety. It also said passengers' luggage, mobile phones and other belongings kept inside the bus, including in the luggage compartment and on the roof, were destroyed.
Police said the nine passengers died from burns and suffocation. The driver and conductor have been detained and further investigation is underway.
(With inputs from PTI)