VIJAYAWADA: In a shocking revelation following the devastating V. Kaveri Travels bus fire near Kurnool last Friday, authorities have confirmed that over 100 mobile phones were being transported in the vehicle’s luggage compartment. According to G. Pala Raju, Director of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL), these devices significantly intensified the blaze, turning a dangerous situation into an even more catastrophic one.
The driver of the private bus had reportedly taken an order to transport these mobile phones, loading numerous boxes into the luggage area. “Every single phone was consumed by the fire, and their batteries detonated, adding fuel to the inferno,” stated Mr. Pala Raju in an interview on Saturday, October 25.
Forensic officials also noted that, in addition to the new mobile phones, a variety of other materials were packed into the same luggage cabin, potentially exacerbating the spread of the flames.
“Our teams have meticulously gathered 83 samples from the scene,” explained Mr. Pala Raju. “These include charred luggage, fragments of engine components, remains of seat covers, severely damaged mobile phones, sections of doors, melted windshield material, and other vital clues recovered directly from the bus wreckage.”
Currently, 16 FSL teams are dedicated to the investigation. Four teams are conducting physical analysis of the debris, two are focused on detailed chemical examinations, and the remaining teams are working tirelessly on DNA preservation and identification, cross-referencing samples from the deceased with blood samples provided by their grieving families.
The APFSL is intensely scrutinizing the contents of the luggage cabin to determine all materials present, while forensic experts are diligently working to uncover both the initial ignition source and any contributing factors that led to the fire rapidly engulfing the moving bus, the Director confirmed.
Through sophisticated chemical analysis, the FSL teams aim to precisely identify how the fire originated and subsequently spread with such devastating speed throughout the vehicle.
Mr. Pala Raju emphasized the extreme rapidity of the incident, noting that the “reaction time” was minimal, offering little to no opportunity for anyone to rescue the passengers trapped inside the sleeper coach.
Based on their thorough analysis, investigators have pinpointed the critical window when the bus fire erupted, estimating it to be between 2:55 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.