Rayavaram, 26 Mar

Darkness, smoke, fire, heat, confusion, and being knocked off seats while asleep were among the near-death experiences endured by survivors of the bus fire accident in Markapuram district on Thursday, which claimed at least 13 lives and injured several others.

Most of the deceased were charred to death, and 22 people were injured after a private bus rammed into a dumper truck laden with concrete chips near Rayavaram village on a road leading to Podili.

Horrific scenes unfolded following the accident, with the tipper truck falling onto its right side and the front portion of the bus completely breaking off as both vehicles were engulfed in massive flames in the pre-dawn crash.

Several completely burnt bodies lay on the road before being shifted to ambulances for further formalities. The rib cage of one body was also visible, indicating the severity of the blaze.

Recounting the accident, a woman passenger lying on a hospital bed said that a boy travelling with their group of three had remarked, "Pinni (aunty), we will die after the accident."

"We had to reach Udayagiri by morning. There were three of us. Two of us are alive, but there is no trace of the boy. We were sleeping and fell from our seats. By the time we realised why we had fallen, there was smoke," she told a vernacular news channel.

She said the boy made the statement as they were trying to understand what had happened and why there was smoke, adding that two of them managed to escape through a side door.

According to her, the bus was travelling at a high speed, and she was seated in the fifth row from the rear.

A young survivor, undergoing treatment for burn injuries, said he was unaware of what had happened. "I don’t know what happened. I was sleeping. I fell onto the road. There were flames on my body," he said, struggling to speak as ointment had been applied to his burns and blisters.

Another male passenger, who appeared unscathed, said the accident occurred at around 5.30am, prompting him and another person to break open a window to escape. He said he had begun his journey from Nizamabad in Telangana and was headed to Pamuru when the accident occurred midway.

Another woman passenger who survived the accident was sobbing uncontrollably in the hospital. "I was sleeping on the upper berth and jumped down. I didn’t understand anything in the fire. Somebody pulled me out; I don’t know who," she said.

A young man who had occupied the first seat of the ill-fated bus said he had inhaled a lot of smoke and struggled to breathe.

"I didn’t realise anything until the fire reached me. I couldn’t breathe and had inhaled a lot of smoke. As the heat increased, I woke up, but by then the fire had come very close. I couldn’t understand anything, and everything was dark," he said, appearing otherwise fine.

After managing to jump out of the blazingbus, he said he moved some distance away but could not find anyone.

At the time of the accident, he said passengers were trampling over each other in a desperate attempt to escape.

"We didn’t know where the exit door was. I was the first person to come out. There was a window, and I squeezed out. I didn’t break anything. I was seated in the first row," he said.

Another male passenger, who was checking his phone at the time of the accident, said most people were asleep.

"I was checking my phone. I was seated in the middle. I opened the emergency door and helped a woman out," he said, recalling his escape.

Several other injured passengers are undergoing treatment in hospitals.