Nine people were burned or suffocated to death when a Delhi–Mahoba sleeper bus erupted in flames near the 33-kilometre marker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida late Wednesday, police and fire officials said Thursday, while the driver and conductor were arrested after a passenger complaint alleged they ignored warnings about a burning smell and mocked riders who begged them to pull over.
Fire on the expressway
Chief Fire Officer Pradeep Kumar told PTI the bus, registration BR32PA8647 operated by Raj Kalpana Travels, left Kashmere Gate around 9 p.m. and ignited near Jewar toll plaza infrastructure about two and a half hours later with 35 passengers aboard. Rescue teams from Jewar toll plaza and four additional tenders pulled more than twenty survivors from smoke-filled berths, but nine bodies remained inside when firefighters finally entered the cabin.
Additional District Magistrate Ajeet Kumar Singh said the blaze began around 11:20 p.m., likely from a short circuit that ignited engine lubricant after a spark or blast in the air-conditioning system, according to preliminary findings he shared with reporters. One woman remained hospitalized at Arogya Hospital while roughly fifteen injured passengers were sent toward Mahoba in a special vehicle, Singh added.
FIR allegations against crew
Jewar police registered a case on a complaint by passenger Suneel Kumar of Hamirpur district, who said riders smelled burning material near the driver’s cabin near the 33-km milestone and alerted the crew. The FIR quotes Kumar as saying the driver dismissed the warning, refused to stop, and told passengers they could “die if you want to,” while the conductor continued smoking bidis in the cabin before flames reached the steering column.
Police said the driver and conductor were taken into custody but have not been formally charged in court filings available Thursday; the complaint accuses gross negligence and reckless disregard rather than intentional homicide. Kumar and other survivors jumped from the moving bus as it slowed, while some remained trapped when smoke overwhelmed the aisle.
Enforcement history
ETV Bharat reported transport databases show 61 challans issued against the bus between April 2023 and August 19, 2026, with 19 still unpaid totalling about ₹1.75 lakh, including an ₹18,500 Mayur Vihar penalty for rooftop cargo and entries related to permits, retrofitting, and fuel rules. India Today and Hindustan Times published similar tallies, noting a January challan for an underage driver near the Delhi–Noida border despite the vehicle continuing to run the Mahoba route.
Delhi Traffic Central Range DCP K. Ramesh told ANI the bus also accumulated nine challans in the capital, mostly for overspeeding and improper parking, underscoring fragmented enforcement across states where the bus was registered in Bihar, fitness-certified in Rajasthan, and pollution-checked in Haryana.
Political response
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued condolence messages, with Modi announcing ₹2 lakh ex gratia for each deceased family and ₹50,000 for injured survivors from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Adityanath directed officials to support bereaved families and treat the injured, according to state statements cited by PTI.
A crane removed the charred shell from the expressway carriageway Thursday morning as investigators photographed the air-conditioning bay. Police said they are still identifying the nine deceased through forensic and kinship work.
What investigators probe next
Officers will compare maintenance logs, permit renewals, and toll records with the FIR timeline to see whether the operator ignored prior warnings. Passenger witnesses at Kailash Hospital in Jewar, including Rekha, who suffered crush injuries escaping, told reporters the aisle filled with smoke within minutes once the driver finally stopped.
For the India desk, the verified toll is nine dead, two crew members in custody, and a complaint on file alleging ignored smoke warnings, set against a bus with dozens of prior challans that still carried 35 fare-paying riders on a premium sleeper route.
