Hyderabad-Bengaluru bus fire: biker’s fatal fall happened before crash, probe finds

Amaravati: Investigators have uncovered new details surrounding the deadly bus fire on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway (NH44) that claimed 19 lives on October 24. Contrary to initial reports, biker Shiva Shankar (22) died before the bus collided with his motorcycle.

CCTV footage from a nearby petrol station revealed that Shankar was riding with a pillion passenger, Nani alias Eriswamy, from Kurnool to Dhone. Shankar, reportedly intoxicated, lost control of the bike, which skidded and hit a road divider. Nani told police that Shankar died instantly from a head injury, while he was thrown into roadside bushes, The Hindu Reported.

Unable to move the bike from the road, Nani said he dragged Shankar’s body aside and remained at the scene until emergency services arrived. Moments later, a V Kaveri bus travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru struck the bike, dragging it nearly 200 metres. The friction, combined with the bike’s open petrol tank, sparked a fire that engulfed the bus.

Nani later travelled to Tuggali by tractor and was apprehended by police the same evening, where he disclosed the sequence of events.

Forensic experts have since identified another critical factor in the fire’s intensity: a consignment of 234 mobile phones stored in the bus’s luggage cabin. The lithium batteries inside the phones are believed to have overheated due to friction from the collision, triggering a rapid blaze that left passengers with little time to escape. The bus’s main door was reportedly locked at the time.

Investigators also discovered the charred remains of a person inside the luggage cabin, raising further questions about the circumstances of the tragedy.

Authorities noted that commercial consignments like mobile phones are prohibited in passenger buses, though the package was allowed aboard in this case.

A full investigation is underway to determine accountability and prevent future incidents of this nature.