In J&K's Katra, passenger bus en route Vaishno Devi catches fire; 4 dead, 22 injured

In a tragic development, a bus full of pilgrims on the way to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine base camp caught fire on Friday near Shani Dev temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra, killing four people and leaving 22 people with severe injuries. The police are currently at the spot. As per sources, Forensic Science Laboratory teams have also been called in at the fire site. As per sources, a foul play angle is also being investigated.

This comes just a few days after a massive fire had gutted several bitumen drums at Mehmoodpur village in the Bishnah area of Jammu and Kashmir. On May 8, a team of police officials and firefighters had reached the spot to douse the fire that gutted down around 150 bitumen drums. All the drums were kept close to each other which resulted in an explosion. Locals with the team officials were seen trying to douse the fire. 

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has assured every possible help to the injured who have been currently shifted to Naraina Hospital in Jammu.

PM Modi urges safety audits amid rising fire accidents in India

On April 27, while chairing a meeting with Chief Ministers on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his concern over the increasing cases of fire accidents in India amid a rise in temperatures. After speaking about the COVID-19 situation, the vaccination drive, and fuel prices in the country, PM Modi spoke about the rise in fire accidents, especially at hospitals.

"I want to speak on one more topic. The heat is increasing rapidly in the country," PM Modi said. Expressing his concern over the increase in fire accidents in the country, PM Modi said, "The heat has come before its actual time. In the time of rising heat, we are seeing increasing incidents of fire at different places." He added, "We are seeing the fire accidents in jungles, in important buildings, in hospitals. Some of these incidents of fire have happened in the last few days." Prime Minister Narendra Modi further said that fire accidents should be avoided and response time in such accidents should be minimum to avoid any significant damage. "Keep monitoring into this, so that innocent citizens don’t have to give up their lives to such accidents," PM Modi said.