Smoke from engines are making the travelers shake from fear after the incident of fire broke in the Volvo bus that gutted entire bus and made 45 passengers char to death in Mahaboobnagar district. The normal belief as per the Telugu proverb is that a smoke cannot come out without fire to cause it!
Smoke came out from the engine when the bus belonged to SVR Travels carrying passengers to Hyderabad reached Abdullapurmet in Hayatnagar Mandal in Rangareddy district in the morning today. It caused anxiety to the passengers. But the driver was alert. He stopped the bus and let the passengers get down from it.
Smoke came out today from the engine of Seshadri Express between Kakinada and Bangalore. Passengers observed it became panicky and ran hither thither in the bogies. Railway officers stopped the train at Chittore railway station to correct the problem in the engine.
The passengers in Bokaro Express from Rayagarh to Visakhapatnam fearing a fire break in the train pulled the emergency chain at Gotlam in Visakhapatnam District to stop the train and jumped out of the train. The incident took place on 2nd November. It was a pitch black night. In the frenzy some passengers went on to the adjoining tracks. Unfortunately Rayagada-Vijayawada-Visakhpatnam passenger coming from the opposite side hit them. The incident killed 10 and injured many. A ghastly scene of the bodies and limbs strewn in the place was seen.
It was only a smoke that caused the devastation but not fire. The passengers wanted to save their lives jumped from the train but only ended losing!
May be a demonstration of safety measures and precautions to be taken at the time of emergency will help the passengers to replace their fears with the right things to do. Emergency exits should be prominently placed to catch the eye of the passengers. The Authorities should think in that direction and take steps as if every train and bus service can face a situation of that sort. Usually a mishap is eventually forgotten till another one occurs after some time!
-SriJa
