Pappu Yadav, 44, one of the survivors
44-year-old Pappu Yadav, sitting on a hospital bed with a fractured leg in Haveri town of Karnataka, is still shaken by the helpless screams of his co-passengers who were charred to death right in front of his own eyes.
"All I knew was I had to jump out of the burning bus... Others on the bus were burning and I turned my face away towards the broken window and jumped," said Mr Yadav.
He is one of the 45 passengers who managed to survive after the Volvo bus they were travelling in caught fire in the wee hours today while it was on its way from Bangalore to Mumbai. Seven others died.
The luxury bus was allegedly speeding through Haveri town in north Karnataka when, at about 3 am, the driver apparently lost control and hit a road divider near a bridge. The diesel tank burst and the bus was engulfed in flames. (
7 killed as luxury bus in Karnataka catches fire, driver and owner booked)
Mr Yadav jumped out of a window that a passenger behind him managed to smash through, with his hands.
"I remember falling on the road and dragging myself out of the heat coming from inside the bus... I made a call to my son in Pune and told him I was dying. I fell unconscious," he says.