64 Killed in 45 Bus Fire Incidents Over 3 Years, Rajasthan Worst Hit: Centre

The Union government on Wednesday claimed that 64 individuals have been killed in 45 cases of buses catching fire during its operation over the past three years to December 10 with the highest number of deaths in Rajasthan.

The data in the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) system also shows that at least 45 individuals died in bus fire incidents in Rajasthan during the period.

Also Read: MEA Summons Bangladesh High Commissioner Over Security at Indian Mission in Dhaka

The second state that was largely hit was Maharashtra that recorded nine buses that caught fire and eight buses were caught fire in Madhya Pradesh. The State of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had six cases of bus fires each in the last three years.

Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari tabled the report in the Rajya Sabha when he was responding to a question about the increasing number of such incidents as posed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Narain Dass Gupta.

The response cited that the numbers exclude a recent accident in which a bus had a collision with a motorcycle and then exploded on October 24, 2025, in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh and caused 25 deaths.

On Monday, a huge traffic jam on Yamuna Expressway in Mathra, took the lives of 13 people, most of them being burnt to death after the vehicles were on fire. Eight buses and three small vehicles that were heading Agra to Gautam Buddha Nagar crashed against each other at the 127-km mark near Agra town in Mathura when visibility reduced drastically because of the heavy haze.

Also Read: Why Homebound Is India’s Best Shot at an Oscar in the New Year

In response, the government stated that the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has made a number of efforts in enhancing the safety of the buses, such as the revision of the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 119 standards in 2016.

The required changes that the rule mandates are the provision of two fire extinguishers with the total weight of 10 kg 1 in all buses, one on the fire extinguishing side of the bus and the other in the passenger compartment, four exits to ensure that all buses to the length of 12 metres and one extra exit to ensure that all types of buses do not separate the passenger and the driver compartment.

In addition, the government (under another notification dated in March 2024 (effective in September 2025), required that these regulations should also be applied to buses manufactured by non-OEM (original equipment manufacturer) bus body manufacturers to vehicles with a passenger capacity over 22.

Also Read: Try Sam Altman’s AI Prompt to Turn Yourself Into a K-Pop Idol Using ChatGPT Images