BMTC conductor burnt alive after bus catches fire at Lingadheeranahalli depot

BENGALURU: A 45-year-old conductor with the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was charred to death, after a sudden fire broke out in a parked bus at Lingadheeranahalli in Bengaluru in the early hours of Friday.

The deceased was identified as Muthaiah Swamy. Muthaiah hailed from Hole Aluru in Ballari, and had been working in BMTC Depot 31 since for the last 14 years. The incident occurred when Muthaiah was sleeping in the bus while the driver slept in the rest room at the depot.

Prima facie, the BMTC officials have clarified that there was no technical fault found in the bus which was purchased from Tata Motors in 2017. The BMTC officers and Byadarahalli police have visited the spot and investigation is under way. The body had been shifted to Victoria Hospital for the post-mortem procedure.

The bus driver Prakash said, “We completed the last trip at 10.20 pm on Thursday. I was sleeping in the restroom and Muthaiah chose to sleep in the bus. When I came out to use the washroom around 4.45 am, I saw the bus on fire. I screamed for the conductor to wake up, but he did not respond. He was burnt alive in when he was sleeping”.

Radhika, BMTC director for fire safety, security and vigilance, said, “We visited the spot and checked the vehicle. Footage from CCTV shows a sudden fire broke out in bus at 4.40 am. The staff at the depot called fire service and tried to extinguish fire, but it was of no use. The bus was supposed to go to Majestic from Lingadheeranahalli in the morning. The driver told the conductor that there are two restrooms at the depot, but the conductor chose to sleep in the bus. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also visited the spot and a case has been registered at the police station”.

Radhika, BMTC director for fire safety, security and vigilance said periodic maintenance of buses is essential.

About the bus, she said it was a Tata BS4 model which had run for 3.75 lakh kilometers. The docking procedure was conducted on February 28 and maintenance service was done on March 8. “The bus operators should follow up on the periodical maintenance of the vehicles” Radhika added.