Buldhana, Jul 1 (IANS): A suspected tyre burst might have caused the horrific accident on the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway on Saturday that claimed the lives of 25 people, including three children, officials said.

According to preliminary enquiries, investigators said that the bus driver might have lost control after the tyre burst, the vehicle hit an electric pole and veered onto the road-divider, overturned and skid for some distance before the diesel tank burst into flames.

The accident area has been lashed by heavy rain in the past few days and the bus was speeding from Nagpur to Pune at that hour, said officials.

One of the two bus drivers, who survived the tragedy, has been detained by the police for questioning and more precise details on the possible causes of the accident are expected to emerge later.

Virendra Darne, proprietor of the Vidarbha Travels company which owned the ill-fated bus, said he bought the vehicle in January 2020, but was grounded for a year due to lockdown and added the driver Danish was experienced.

However, possibly due to the presence of flammable items in the bus, it caught fire, claimed Darne, and the bus had 27 passengers as per the manifest with the company.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, IGP Jayant Naiknavare, Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasne and other senior officials rushed to the spot early this morning and reviewed the relief operations.

At least 33 people were on board the bus, including two drivers and a cleaner.

Eight injured people have been admitted to the Buldhana civil hospital for treatment.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have condoled the deaths in the accident.

Opposition Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, state President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, National Working President Supriya Sule, General Secretary Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, Kishore Tiwari and several other state leaders expressed grief over the tragedy.

Modi declared an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PMNRF plus Rs 50,000 for the injured, while Shinde announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of each deceased, and free treatment for the injured.

Fadnavis said that the police are probing the cause of the accident whether it was due to human error or other causes, while ruling out any technical or construction glitches as the possible trigger for the tragedy.