Bangalore To Mumbai Volvo Bus hits Median and Bursts Into Flames Thursday Nov 14,2013

Seven persons, including five of a family, died and 30 were injured when a multi-axle Volvo bus operating between Bangalore and Mumbai rammed a road median on National Highway 4 near Haveri and caught fire

Forty-two passengers, including two foreign nationals, managed to get out by breaking the glass windows

Passengers who were seriously injured near Haveri being shifted to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubli on Thursday Nov 14,2013

The toll could well have been higher had it not been for two youngsters who woke up sleeping passengers and smashed the window panes to help them escape. The driver jumped out and is absconding. The second driver, Nawaz, who was asleep in the trunk, was charred to death

The bus, operated by Bangalore-based National Travels, was on its way from Bangalore to Mumbai.

The bus belonging to National Travels, owned by a former Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) legislator B.Z. Zameer Ahmed, had left Bangalore around 8 p.m

 The accident occurred sometime after 3 a.m. The bus is believed to have veered to the left and hit a bridge at Kunimellihalli village, off Bankapura Cross, rupturing the fuel tank in the process

The fuel spill presumably caused the fire

The accident bears a striking resemblance to the one at Mahbubnagar a fortnight ago in which 45 passengers were charred to death.

The identity of all but one of the deceased has been established.

 Later in the day, 26 passengers left for Mumbai in a bus arranged by the KSRTC.

Ten returned to Bangalore