Survivors recall horrifying moments, mourn the loss of colleagues

Pune: It was just like any other weekday for Pradip Raut. He boarded the company bus in Warje, sat in his usual spot at the back, and plugged in his earphones to watch the latest news.
But everything changed for Raut, a resident of Katraj and a worker with Vyoma Graphics, and his fellow passengers on the fateful Wednesday morning.
"Around 7.45am, when we were at Phase-I of the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi, I felt a sudden jerk and heard the screams of my colleagues," Raut told TOI.
When Raut got up from his seat to find out what had happened, he noticed the front side of the minibus was in flames.
The driver was not in his seat, and the bus was moving without him.
"Within a few seconds, the entire bus was filled with smoke and flames. Some of my colleagues jumped out of the moving bus. But due to the flames and smoke, some could not reach the door and came to the rear side of the bus," Raut said.
The bus halted after moving for some distance. The occupants of the bus tried to push open the emergency exit located at the rear but were unable to do so.
"I then broke the window and jumped out before the flames could reach me," Raut said.
"A team of security guards reached the spot and tried to douse the fire. Someone took me to a hospital, which is around five minutes from the spot," he said.
Raut, who escaped with minor injuries, said, "I was fortunate, but I lost four colleagues."
Another accident survivor, Nandkumar Sawant, also suffered only minor injuries. "My four colleagues of many years died in front of me. I am fortunate to have escaped with minor injuries."
Security Guards to the rescue
Security Supervisor Sharad Bharsakle of a private security agency, that manages the security of a nearby IT company, told TOI, "I was in the security cabin around 8am when I heard a commotion. I was shocked to see a minibus on fire. There was no driver in the bus."
Bharsakle ran out of the cabin carrying a fire extinguisher.
"I saw some passengers jumping out of the bus. A woman passenger, who jumped out of the bus, suffered injuries," he said.
He tried to douse the inferno, but it had engulfed the entire bus.
"I realised that a single fire extinguisher was not enough. I alerted our security guards immediately and told them to bring more fire extinguishers. My team came there with 15 units and started dousing the fire," he said.
Bharsakle said when he saw a few people stuck inside, he called the ambulance service immediately.
"I brought hose pipes from the company and started pouring water. By the time the fire brigade reached the spot, we had doused around 75% of the fire," Bharsakle said.
"We tried hard to save the lives of the people stuck inside the bus, but unfortunately, four of them died," the security officer said.
An officer from the PMRDA fire brigade said the four bodies inside the bus were completely charred. "The rear door of the bus was not opening. We had to break open the door to remove the bodies," he said.