Police have established that the ten people who died in the horrific bus accident in Malaqereqere Sigatoka late last night includes seven females and three males.
This also includes some children as young as a one year old baby.
Divisional Traffic Officer Western, Inspector Narayan Sami said they are still trying to inform some of the family members about the accident as some bodies are still being identified.
Director Traffic SSP Ramend Raj has confirmed more than 50 people left Naboro to attend a funeral in Martintar, Nadi when their bus caught fire just past Malaqereqere at about 10:30 last night.
He said police are still at the scene trying to determine the cause of the fire.
SSP Raj said they are still informing their close relatives.
Experts from the Fire Department and Land Transport Authority are on their way to Sigatoka to examine the bus that caught fire last night.
SSP Raj has confirmed a team of officers from LTA and Fire Department visited the scene this morning, however they could not determine what went wrong.
SSP Raj said the bus has completely burnt down.
He said they called experts from Lautoka and Suva this morning who are on their way.
The ten who have died were trapped inside the bus and were unable to escape because of the glass windows.
Sigatoka Police are still questioning the driver and according to the information police have received so far from him, he lost control of the bus as soon as it caught fire.
Also by the time people started jumping off the bus, it was already filled with smoke and the driver could hardly see what was happening inside. Some other passengers who sustained burns are admitted in Nadi and Sigatoka hospitals.
Two of the passengers in the bus which caught fire last night claiming 10 lives, are in critical condition with 36 to 49 percent burns while four have been admitted but with not so serious burns.
This has been confirmed by Sigatoka Hospital Sub-Divisional Medical Officer, Dr Wahab Shah who said there were 36 people treated at the Hospital.
Dr Shah adds currently 3 patients are being transferred to the Burns Unit at the CWM in Suva.
Police spokesperson, Atunaisa Sokomuri said all the ten bodies of those who died in the tragic bus accident, have been recovered.
He said they are now following the identification process.
More than twenty survivors of the accident at Malaqereqere last night are at Naevuevu village near the accident scene at Malaqereqere, Sigatoka.
Village headman, Ratu Kelevi Cavuduadua confirms that all the victims are currently staying at the village hall, and are being examined by the medical team from the Sigatoka hospital.
Cavuduadua said the nearby villagers have visited the victims including the Fijian Shangri-la hotel staff who brought some food and clothes.
Fire Investigators from the National Fire Authority are now at the scene of the bus fire in Sigatoka.
Chief Fire Officer Mark Reid said initial information received indicate that the bus may have been on fire before it came to a halt in Malaqereqere this morning.
Reid also confirms that all relevant agencies are now involved and they are also investigating the fire safety measures on the bus and why those who perished could not escape.
Earlier on:
Ten people are dead after the bus they were travelling in, caught fire and went off the road in Navuevu, Sigatoka at about 10.30 last night.
Divisional Traffic Officer Western, Inspector Narayan Sami has confirmed the tragic accident, saying that the 10 people who have died sustained serious burns when the bus caught fire just past Malaqereqere.
Inspector Sami said the ten were trapped inside the bus and were unable to escape because of the glass windows.
According to police there were more than 50 passengers in the bus and they were on their way to attend a funeral in Martintar, Nadi.
Police are questioning the driver and according to the information police have received so far from him, he lost control of the bus as soon as it caught fire.
Also by the time people started jumping off the bus, it was already filled with smoke and the driver could hardly see what was happening inside.
The dead also include some children and all of them were from Suva. Some other passengers who sustained burns are admitted in Nadi and Sigatoka hospitals.
