Car in flames sandwiched between Bus & Truck

esteem_lover · 24th May 2007, 12:35

KANCHEEPURAM: Seven persons travelling in a car were charred to death in a fire that broke out following a multiple collision involving three vehicles on Grand Southern Trunk Road near Chengalpattu on Tuesday night.
According to the police, the accident took place around 11-15 p.m. near the old Palar river bridge, when the driver of an omni-bus applied the brakes to avoid a vehicle that was slowing down ahead of him.
The driver of the car, which was following the omni-bus, also applied brakes to avoid colliding with the bus. A speeding urea-laden lorry rammed the car from behind. In the impact, a fire broke out.
The occupants of the car were unable to get out as the vehicle was jammed between the bus and the lorry.
Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Chengalpattu, Wallajahbad, Thirukazhukundram, Uthiramerur, Madurantakam and Kancheepuram. It took nearly an hour to bring the blaze under control.
After dousing the fire, a crane was pressed into service to separate the car's frame from the bus, which was also gutted.
A portion of the lorry cabin also caught fire. Water jets of fire tenders were trained at the lorry to drench the urea bags to prevent them from catching fire.

Read it here
The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Kancheepuram News : Seven charred to death as car catches fire

planet_rocker · 24th May 2007, 12:43

omg! this is terrible. may their soul rest in peace. i cant even spot the car - looks like a huge ball of fire in between the bus and the truck.

benbsb29 · 24th May 2007, 13:44

Thats really sad, and come to think of it, it all started owing to some person who slowed down in the middle of the road for whatever reason.

Rocky_Balboa · 24th May 2007, 14:15

May their souls rest in peace.
And why should all these people should suffer tragedy when it could be the driver(all) fault!!! Cant really say if the slowed down driver was at fault, a car running so close to a bus and a lorry speeding fast closely behind a car...

Whatever the reasons, leaving people dead is horrendous!

rks · 24th May 2007, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thats really sad, and come to think of it, it all started owing to some person who slowed down in the middle of the road for whatever reason.

The question is what caused the vehicle in front of the bus to slow down abruptly. Could be some pothole or other flaw in the road; if so, I honestly believe that the families of the victims should sue the government.

And it appears the vehicles were following each other a touch too closely. Buses are nototious for breathing down the necks of slow vehicles and then braking hard and unexpectedly when their rash overtaking maneuvers fail. Maybe the car was tailing the bus looking for an opportunity to get past. As for the urea-laden lorry, it is not clear if this vehicle was speeding and tailing the car closely or if it had just been overtaken by the bus and the car.

All in all a tragic and freak accident. But for the car catching fire, there probably would not have been any fatailities. Was the car carrying some inflammable substance or did the car's petrol tank catch fire?

Personally my policy is to quickly overtake buses and lorries, so that these guys do not obstruct my view or are tailing close behind. And if the road is not wide enough, give some distance and follow, if possible in a staggered manner to get some view of the road ahead. But all these ideals often fail in practice on our narrow and crowded roads. The bottom line is you need a lot of luck to avert accidents in many of these situations.

anonymous · 24th May 2007, 16:42

May their soul rest in peace.
Since people here are talking about why the driver slowed down, I like to share my experience on highway.
I was on NH24 coming from my home town with my wife. This was the first time, I was coming to delhi with my wife ( I got married only 1 months back and I was taking her to my home in gurgaon ). My speed was around 70 KMPH. There was bus of UP Roadways, trying to over take my. When I saw it, I simply pushed the break to let the bus pass but when the bus was in the middle of road, the driver saw that ther were two or three cars coming from opposite side. Those guys would have been racing with each others and they were really very fast, may be around 120/130 Speed, here the bus driver realized that he would not be able to over me, so he pushed the break really hard to get behind my car but couldn't get the right idea, so he hit the back door of my car and due to this, my car turned on the road and it came right in front of the car. During this time, I was completely out of my mind and had no idea what happened. I realized that I just met an accident, when I saw the big TATA Logo right at the door window, when the car was being dragged by bus. When the bus stopped, I changed the break to get rid of the bus and after this I realized that there was some kind of hook at the front of the bus, on which was car got stuck and it saved me and my wife's life. Imagine when the car was hit by the bus and it would not have stuck to the hook, what would have happened.
When I got out of the car, I was like shivering anything. There was a gurudwara near by and few people from that came over to me, gave me and wife water and made us feel relaxed. They also beat the drivers, as they were watching this incident and they thought that it was bus drivers fault.
Still when I think of this, I thank god everytime.

esteem_lover · 24th May 2007, 17:36

Terrible experience rlather. good that you got out of it without anything serious.

benbsb29 · 24th May 2007, 18:33

Quite a scary experience there, pal.
I get the shivers even reading it.

speedweednitro · 24th May 2007, 19:01

What a horrible horrible thing. May their souls rest in peace.

hrag · 24th May 2007, 19:46

7 people? Which car?

zenopio · 24th May 2007, 19:56

how sad.. may their soles rest in peace :(

Godfather · 24th May 2007, 21:56

Jeez... this is sad..May their souls rest in peace.

Godfather

ravi@64bhp · 25th May 2007, 07:59

I could feel my spine chilling after seeing the photo. What a tragedy! My deep condolences to the victims.

sajo · 25th May 2007, 10:21

@rlather : Very scary experience there!
And the photo in the first post is chilling, to say the least.

Surprise · 25th May 2007, 18:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrag

7 people? Which car?

I was told that it was a Bolero

24th May 2007, 12:35	#1
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	Car in flames sandwiched between Bus & Truck KANCHEEPURAM: Seven persons travelling in a car were charred to death in a fire that broke out following a multiple collision involving three vehicles on Grand Southern Trunk Road near Chengalpattu on Tuesday night. According to the police, the accident took place around 11-15 p.m. near the old Palar river bridge, when the driver of an omni-bus applied the brakes to avoid a vehicle that was slowing down ahead of him. The driver of the car, which was following the omni-bus, also applied brakes to avoid colliding with the bus. A speeding urea-laden lorry rammed the car from behind. In the impact, a fire broke out. The occupants of the car were unable to get out as the vehicle was jammed between the bus and the lorry. Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Chengalpattu, Wallajahbad, Thirukazhukundram, Uthiramerur, Madurantakam and Kancheepuram. It took nearly an hour to bring the blaze under control. After dousing the fire, a crane was pressed into service to separate the car's frame from the bus, which was also gutted. A portion of the lorry cabin also caught fire. Water jets of fire tenders were trained at the lorry to drench the urea bags to prevent them from catching fire. Read it here The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Kancheepuram News : Seven charred to death as car catches fire
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 12:43	#2
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	omg! this is terrible. may their soul rest in peace. i cant even spot the car - looks like a huge ball of fire in between the bus and the truck.
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 13:44	#3
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,969 Thanked: 13,231 Times View My Garage	Thats really sad, and come to think of it, it all started owing to some person who slowed down in the middle of the road for whatever reason.
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 14:15	#4
Rocky_Balboa BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Namma Bengalooru Posts: 676 Thanked: 358 Times View My Garage	May their souls rest in peace. And why should all these people should suffer tragedy when it could be the driver(all) fault!!! Cant really say if the slowed down driver was at fault, a car running so close to a bus and a lorry speeding fast closely behind a car... Whatever the reasons, leaving people dead is horrendous!
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 16:42	#6
anonymous BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NCR Posts: 565 Thanked: 25 Times	May their soul rest in peace. Since people here are talking about why the driver slowed down, I like to share my experience on highway. I was on NH24 coming from my home town with my wife. This was the first time, I was coming to delhi with my wife ( I got married only 1 months back and I was taking her to my home in gurgaon ). My speed was around 70 KMPH. There was bus of UP Roadways, trying to over take my. When I saw it, I simply pushed the break to let the bus pass but when the bus was in the middle of road, the driver saw that ther were two or three cars coming from opposite side. Those guys would have been racing with each others and they were really very fast, may be around 120/130 Speed, here the bus driver realized that he would not be able to over me, so he pushed the break really hard to get behind my car but couldn't get the right idea, so he hit the back door of my car and due to this, my car turned on the road and it came right in front of the car. During this time, I was completely out of my mind and had no idea what happened. I realized that I just met an accident, when I saw the big TATA Logo right at the door window, when the car was being dragged by bus. When the bus stopped, I changed the break to get rid of the bus and after this I realized that there was some kind of hook at the front of the bus, on which was car got stuck and it saved me and my wife's life. Imagine when the car was hit by the bus and it would not have stuck to the hook, what would have happened. When I got out of the car, I was like shivering anything. There was a gurudwara near by and few people from that came over to me, gave me and wife water and made us feel relaxed. They also beat the drivers, as they were watching this incident and they thought that it was bus drivers fault. Still when I think of this, I thank god everytime.
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 17:36	#7
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	Terrible experience rlather. good that you got out of it without anything serious.
	() Thanks

24th May 2007, 18:33	#8
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,969 Thanked: 13,231 Times View My Garage	Quite a scary experience there, pal. I get the shivers even reading it.
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24th May 2007, 19:01	#9
speedweednitro BANNED Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bombay Posts: 26 Thanked: 0 Times	What a horrible horrible thing. May their souls rest in peace.
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24th May 2007, 19:46	#10
hrag BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore / Madras Posts: 1,982 Thanked: 31 Times	7 people? Which car?
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24th May 2007, 19:56	#11
zenopio BANNED Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: hyderabad,london Posts: 441 Thanked: 4 Times View My Garage	how sad.. may their soles rest in peace :(
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24th May 2007, 21:56	#12
Godfather Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore / Atlanta Posts: 1,387 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	Jeez... this is sad..May their souls rest in peace. Godfather
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25th May 2007, 07:59	#13
ravi@64bhp BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 602 Thanked: 10 Times	I could feel my spine chilling after seeing the photo. What a tragedy! My deep condolences to the victims.
	() Thanks

25th May 2007, 10:21	#14
sajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 2,625 Thanked: 1,153 Times	@rlather : Very scary experience there! And the photo in the first post is chilling, to say the least.
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