A woman from Hyderabad died in Karnataka’s Bidar district on Thursday after a car in which she was travelling caught fire. 39-year-old Kalyani was travelling back to Hyderabad from Maharashtra’s Udgir when the incident occurred. A video of the burning car went viral soon after the incident.
At around 10.30 am on Thursday, Kalyani, her husband Uday Kumar (42) and two children aged seven and ten years old, were travelling back to Hyderabad in a Hyundai i10. Kalyani was sitting in the front seat, while her husband was driving the car along national highway 9 in Bidar’s Mannaekhelli in Humnabad taluk.
According to the Mannaekhelli Police, the temperature of the air conditioning equipment in the car had increased drastically and smoke began coming out of the car. Within seconds, the car caught fire and Uday Kumar immediately parked the car on the side of the road and got out.
He then rescued his children, who were sitting in the back seat, after instructing his wife to get out.
However, the fire allegedly spread within minutes and Kalyani was unable to get out of the car. “She was wearing a seatbelt and it got stuck. She was unable to detach the seat belt when the car caught fire,” said Mannaekhelli station officer Sunita.
Uday Kumar called an ambulance and within minutes a fire engine also arrived at the spot to douse the flames. However, due to the intensity of the fire, Kalyani couldn’t be saved and succumbed.
The Mannaekhelli police took Uday Kumar and the two children to the government hospital where they were administered first aid. They did not sustain any injuries.
Kalyani's body has been sent for an autopsy. The Mannaekhelli police have registered an accident case. Kalyani's body will be released to the family on Friday.