Jaipur highway fire toll rises to 13; 6-member SIT set up

Authorities struggled to identify severely burned victims and searched for at least 13 missing people.

The toll from Friday’s catastrophic highway explosion rose to 13 on Saturday as authorities struggled to identify severely burned victims and searched for at least 13 missing people, while Rajasthan’s high court demanded answers from officials about the circumstances that led to the disaster.

Jaipur, Dec 20 (ANI) Firefighters extinguish the fire at the site of the accident after a massive fire started due to a collision between a gas tanker and multiple vehicles near a petrol pump on the Jaipur-Ajmer Highway, in Jaipur on Friday. Reportedly, Four people died and several injured in the accident. (ANI)

Two more people succumbed on Saturday as doctors at SMS Hospital battled to save 27 others, including seven on ventilator support. The mounting casualties have been accompanied by growing questions about how a known dangerous stretch of highway was allowed to remain hazardous despite repeated warnings.

The toll on Friday was mistakenly concluded as 12 instead of 11 because one body was split in two parts, police said. However, police received reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory which helped identify that body. As of Saturday evening, there were four unidentified bodies in the mortuary.

“The bodies are not in a condition to be identified by the families that have come forward,” said Bhankrota station house officer Manish Gupta. “DNA profiling is the only way for us now to trace them.” Police have collected DNA samples from unidentified victims and sent them to the FSL.

Dr Deepak Maheshwari, principal of SMS medical college, described the ongoing medical crisis: “Of the total patients, seven are on ventilators. The rest have sustained 50% burns and their conditions are not good”.

Security camera footage from Friday captured the moment of explosion at 5.25am, showing a fireball sweeping through streets and engulfing structures in its path. The disaster began when a Jaipur-bound LPG tanker from Ajmer attempted a U-turn toward Agra Road and was struck by a truck from behind, leading to a gas leak that then turned into the fireball.

The devastation’s scope was captured in health department figures: 34 vehicles destroyed, including 10 containers, seven trailers, five trucks, eight four-wheelers, two pickups, and two sleeper buses. Two passengers from the Udaipur-bound bus were among the confirmed dead.

Officials noted the accident occurred during peak hours for commercial vehicle movement between districts. Transport authorities have been contacted to help identify the many destroyed vehicles at the scene, since their registration plates and identifying marks were obliterated by the fire.

The tragedy’s full scope became clearer on Saturday as travel operators shared passenger manifestos. Abdul Salman Khan, operator of Lake City Travels, said his Udaipur-bound bus departed on Thursday at 9pm carrying 39 passengers. “Three passengers boarded from Kankroli, eight from Udaipur, nine from Jaipur, 14 from other districts, and five from other states,” Khan said.

At least seven passengers from this bus remain unaccounted for, officials said, citing requests from families asking for the whereabouts of their loved ones they said were in the vehicles but have since not been heard from. This number, the police official added, could be higher since the seven were only of those unaccounted for from the bus Udaipur-origin bus, which was among the closest to the tanker when the fireball erupted. The bus’s driver, Shahid from Udaipur, was injured, while conductor Kalu, from Chittorgarh, remains missing.

Police have struggled to identify the second bus, a government vehicle whose registration plate was destroyed in the fire. “So far, we could trace 34 passengers from that bus — most of whom are undergoing treatment and are in critical condition,” Gupta said.

The Rajasthan high court took suo motu cognisance of the disaster on Saturday, demanding explanations from both central and state governments. “This incident was so shocking that it shattered everyone,” the court observed, directing authorities to explain why action should not be taken against officials responsible for conditions that led to the accident.

Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand emphasised that government safety policies “deserve to be implemented in their letter and spirit and should not remain on a piece of paper in the records only”. The court urged authorities to identify blackspots and adopt preventive measures.

The blast devastated an 800 metre stretch of the highway. Police have identified one of the initial crash victims as Muhammed Shahabuddin from RaeBareli, who was driving the truck that struck the LPG tanker. The tanker driver remains unidentified, their remains recovered in such condition that they had to be transported to the mortuary in a polybag, officials said. Police have been unable to trace the owners of either vehicle as both were destroyed in the fire, deputy commissioner of police (DCP-West) Amit Kumar Budaniya. Budaniya was named as the lead of a six-member Special Investigation Team to investigate the crash.

Deputy chief minister Diya Kumari, visiting victims at SMS Hospital, pledged support: “The doctors are putting their full effort to save the patients. I have also assured the families of the victims and also the deceased ones to reach out to us if they require any further financial or other help”.

Opposition Congress leader Sachin Pilot, also visiting the hospital, called for accountability: “The government should ensure the best possible medical facilities for the victims. I also urge the government to conduct a thorough probe”.