At least nine dead in sleeper bus fire on Yamuna Expressway; driver, conductor arrested for murder
A passenger bus caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway. Photo credit @ANI/X
At least nine passengers, including a woman, were killed after a sleeper bus carrying about 35-40 people caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway near the 33 km stretch late on Wednesday night (September 23, 2026), triggering a massive rescue operation.
The bus was traveling from Delhi to Mahua in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district when the fire broke out in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district around 11 pm. After an emergency call, 8-10 fire engines were dispatched to the scene and personnel worked throughout the night to contain the fire and rescue the passengers.
The bus driver and conductor have been arrested and the Jewar police have registered a case against them under provisions relating to culpable homicide. A preliminary investigation indicated that a short circuit in the air conditioning system may have started the fire, police said.
Jewar Inspector Ajay Kumar Singh said several passengers managed to escape and subsequently returned to their homes.
But for those trapped inside, the fire turned the bus into a smoke-filled chamber within minutes. The bodies were taken to Kailash Hospital where they were declared brought dead and taken for postmortem.
Passenger Rinki Rajput, who survived the incident, said she was sleeping when someone slammed the bus door and woke her up.
“I was sleeping when there was a knock on the door. When I woke up, there was already a huge crowd. I didn’t pick up any of my things or put on my shoes. I just grabbed my phone and got out,” she said.
Describing the struggle to get out, Ms Rajput said passengers pushed and shoved as they tried to escape through the smoke.
“It was so smoky that you couldn’t see anything. People were suffocating inside. Few managed to escape, only those who managed to squeeze out in the middle of the shoving. They pushed me around and someone finally pulled me out. I don’t remember anything else after that,” she said.
She said several passengers were apparently trapped behind her.
“There were quite a few people behind me who probably couldn’t get out because I got out quite late myself. Many people lost their lives. The scene was absolutely chaotic and it was extremely difficult to get out,” she said.
Another passenger recalled being woken up after the fire spread inside the bus.
“I was sleeping when someone woke me up and said the bus was on fire. There was smoke everywhere. We were all trying to get out. It wasn’t easy to escape, there was a lot of smoke,” said the passenger.
“Somehow we managed to get out in a state of panic. The bus was full of passengers,” he said.
The fire required an immediate emergency on the expressway, at least eight fire brigades were deployed on the scene. Rescuers worked to evacuate those still reachable and bring the flames under control.
Police are now investigating the circumstances of the fire, the condition of the bus and whether safety or operational failures contributed to the deaths. The exact sequence of events leading to the fire and the circumstances in which the nine passengers were stranded are part of the investigation.
Published – 24 Sep 2026 07:55 IST