‘Have you seen her? This is her picture’: Families search for loved ones after Noida bus fire

Nancy Gupta has been sitting on a stone slab outside the postmortem house in Noida’s Sector 94 for 9 hours. Since 7 am on Thursday, she has been trying to reach her mother, Saroj Gupta (52) and cousin Mayank Gupta (28). They were travelling in an AC sleeper bus, going from Delhi to Mahoba, which caught fire around 11 pm on the Yamuna Expressway.

Nine people were killed. Nancy’s family had come to Noida three days ago to celebrate the first birthday of her sister’s daughter. Saroj and Mayank were returning to Rath in Uttar Pradesh. Their last conversation was before the family boarded the bus from Noida Sector 37 around 10 pm.

“They told me they were settled. I called them at 7 am, when the bus usually reaches, but they did not pick up. I tracked the vehicle online, but it was not moving. I called the bus operator and the police, but they did not tell us anything.

Then I found out online that the bus had caught fire,” she said. The family called Kailash Hospital in Noida, where the injured had been taken. “They said nobody named Saroj or Mayank was admitted there. My father keeps asking where my mother is,” Nancy said.

Late afternoon, as police officers arrived at the postmortem house, Nancy rushed towards them. “Did you see a woman of medium height? I can describe what she was wearing yesterday. See, this is her picture,” she said, holding out a photograph of her mother.

The officer told the waiting families that nine bodies had been brought in but they were charred beyond recognition. Families could try to identify them, he added, while DNA samples would be collected to establish their identities.

Nancy was among several families waiting outside, hoping their loved ones were not among the dead. Another woman was looking for her father, who had boarded the bus along with her brother. They were headed to Auraiya. A few minutes past 11 pm, her brother called and said the bus had caught fire.

“I took a cab and rushed to the spot… it took me an hour to reach. I thought it was a minor accident but then I saw flames engulfing the entire bus.” “My brother is safe, but I don’t know where my father said,” she said.

Sunita Gupta (60) and her son Shashank were also missing, said a relative from Delhi waiting outside. “Their family called me, saying they hadn’t been able to reach them. I called the hospital, but they said nobody by their names was there,” he said.

Around 2.30 pm, the families finally went inside the postmortem house, handkerchiefs pressed over their faces, as they prepared to look for their loved ones. Nancy went inside. Her brother walked anxiously outside, his hands folded.

“I am not able to identify anyone. Only the torso and face of the remaining bodies are left. The jewellery my mother was wearing has melted. It is not there on anybody,” she said. Her brother immediately called up a family member.

“What was Mayank wearing yesterday? A white shirt and cream cargo pants?” he asked.