A man lies burning on the highway near Mumbai; video taken by compassionless bystander
A man is engulfed in flames on the highway as cars, two-wheelers and people go past without stopping to help, in a horrific video that appears to have been taken by one of many thoughtless bystanders at the spot. The man, a biker, was involved in an accident yesterday with another biker. Both have died.
The video, say the police, was taken on the highway in Maharashtra's Beed district, at a point some eight hours from Mumbai. When the two bikers collided, one of them was trapped under the wrecked bikes, which caught fire.
The police say the man probably didn't shout for help as he was unconscious from a head injury. By the time help arrived and the police put out the fire, he was charred beyond recognition. The other biker died in hospital today.
The burning man made little difference to the flow of traffic, and no pedestrian rushed to help put out the blaze either. In one visual, a small crowd watches the grisly spectacle; some have their mobile cameras trained on it.
The police are investigating whether one of the bikers was carrying bottles of alcohol which could have started the fire.
"We are yet to establish who the victim is," senior police officer G Sreedhar told NDTV.
"Since the number plates on the bike were burnt, we are unable to get much details about the victim. All we could tell from the plates was that the bike was registered in Parbhani (a town nearby). We have given the plate to the Regional Transport Office, which can give us details," Mr Sreedhar said.