The Price of a Journey Tragedy Strikes New Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad Bus Service:

For 16 passengers traveling from Jaisalmer to Ahmedabad, a peaceful night's sleep turned into a fight for survival in the early hours of Friday. At approximately 3:30 AM, a private AC sleeper bus operated by Swagat Travels became engulfed in flames on the National Highway near Nenava village, Gujarat. While most managed a harrowing escape, the incident has left a trail of destruction and one tragic fatality.

A Race Against Time The fire broke out while the bus was in motion, with most passengers deep in sleep. Preliminary reports suggest that a short circuit in the air conditioning (AC) system triggered the blaze. The fire spread with such terrifying speed that there was no time to use the main exit. In a desperate bid to survive, passengers were forced to smash glass and jump through windows as the interior filled with thick, suffocating smoke.

The Toll of the Tragedy While 15 passengers managed to exit the vehicle, the cost of survival was high. One passenger, who was trapped in the flames and sustained severe burn injuries, tragically passed away during treatment at a hospital in Palanpur. Six other passengers are currently being treated for varying degrees of burns and injuries sustained during their frantic escape.

Everything Lost in Minutes Beyond the physical injuries, the survivors have been left with nothing. The fire was so intense that it reduced the bus to a charred metal skeleton in minutes. All luggage, important identity documents, and mobile phones were incinerated.

"The fire was so sudden and fierce that people couldn't even grab their phones," noted Nirmal Raiyani, the bus operator.

This has created a secondary crisis, as many survivors have been unable to contact their families to let them know they are alive.

A Pattern of Concern? This incident is a painful reminder for the region, coming just months after a similar horrific bus fire in late 2025. It raises urgent questions about the safety protocols and maintenance of private AC sleepers, especially given that this particular bus service had only been launched three to four days prior.

Currently, the Dhanera police administration is at the site, and a detailed investigation is underway to determine if mechanical negligence played a role in this morning's inferno. For now, the stretch of highway stands as a grim reminder of how quickly a routine journey can turn into a disaster.