Are Volvo buses deathtraps?

Fire Service staff putting off flames that broke out from the Volvo Bus in a fire mishap in running bus at Khaitlapur village in Chottupal on National Highway No 9-- Suresh Kumar

A private travel volvo bus gutted in a fire mishap after ramming into a tipper on national highway no 9-- Suresh Kumar

TV Film Kept Them Awake, Saved Them:

It was a nightmare for the passengers travelling on the private Volvo bus that gutted completely in a fire after hitting a tipper near Choutuppal a little after midnight on Sunday. Most of the passengers were awake watching a Telugu film on the TV and it helped them escape in time. ``After distributing water bottles to all the passengers, I returned to the cabin and had a brief conversation with the driver, Veera Srinivas. As the movie was coming to an end, I went back to the passengers to know if they wanted anything. Suddenly, there was a loud sound and the passengers first thought it was tyre burst. Later, we found that the bus had hit a tipper from behind,'' recalled Chinni, the bus cleaner. Chinni broke the windowpanes and saved as many as ten lives. ``Soon after the accident took place, a major fire broke out from the front portion. As we were unable to exit from the front cabin, we broke open the windowpanes with luggage bags and jumped out,'' he said. Chinni, along with 15 passengers who received minor injuries, was admitted to the Government Hospital at Chouttupal in Nalgonda district. After they had jumped out, he said, they started searching for the driver. ``Initially I thought the driver too jumped out through the window but he was, along with a passenger, charred to death,'' Chinni said. Most of the Volvo buses, which have airconditioning facility, catch fire due to short-circuit. Besides,  the buses have the engine at the rear and a delicate chassis. There were several possibilities for eruption of fire like disturbances at the exhaust man-pole located near the silencer, leakages from the fuel tank or short-circuit in the engine.  ``When a Volvo bus meets with an accident, the damage to the vehicle can be immense and the risk to the life of passengers high. In the latest accident involving a Volvo bus of a private travel company, we suspect that the fire broke out due to short-circuit soon after the bus rammed the tipper,'' said Chandrasekhar, chief mechanical engineer (operations) of the AP State Road Transport Corporation. He recalled an accident involving an RTC bus a year ago in a district close to the city. An investigation conducted by senior officials revealed that the driver had lost his control over the steering and hit a water pipe that was constructed at the point of a curve. The bus hit the pipe and caught fire due to the damage caused to the fuel tank. As soon as the accident took place, sparks erupted and fire broke out. Luckily, there were no casualties then, he said and suspected that improper maintenance of the bus might have caused the fire. The driver should inspect the bus before he taking it out. ``We have to check all key points of the bus. We can find out the exact reason for the mishap only when we visit the spot and examine the scene of accident,'' he added. The private Volvo bus that caught fire after ramming a tipper from behind near Choutuppal on Sunday midnight was going at a top speed of 180 km per hour when it met with the accident on NH-9, police said.``The accident took place when the driver tried to chase another vehicle at a high speed to overtake it. Unfortunately hit a tipper ahead of it. The bus driver lost his control over the steering while he was overtaking another vehicle. He failed to notice a tipper which was going slowly ahead and rammed it,'' said Bhongir deputy superintendent of police M Yadaiah. Two persons _ driver Veera Srinivas, a resident of Pulletikurru village in Ambajipet mandal in East Godavari district, and passenger Oruganti Sarada, a resident of Vatluru at Eluru _ were charred to death. As many as 15 passengers received minor injuries and were admitted to the government hospital at Chottuppal, Osmania General Hospital and a private hospital in Hyderabad. The bus, belonging to Anjani Travels, was going from Hyderabad to Amalapuram. Some mishaps in Recent Past --  * March 13, 2012: Fire broke out from the engine of a running Aero Express bus at Kishanguda, near Shamshabad. * April 27, 2011: An Aero Express bus plying between Shamshabad and Begumpet caught fire near Satamrai. In this incident too, fire erupted from the engine and * April 19, 2011: An RTC Metro Express carrying 40 passengers caught fire at Lakdikapul.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com