“They were begging for clothes, water… anything to ease their pain,” said Bhanwar Lal, the family head told the newspaper. “Their skin was charred, and many could barely speak,” he added.

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Although Kandoi Hospital, a private facility, was just 1.5 km away, access was blocked by an eight-foot boundary wall that separated the farmland from the hospital, the report said, adding that for the injured, weakened by severe burns, scaling the wall seemed impossible.

However, 20-year-old Rakesh Saini of the farming family then stepped in. Using a ladder, he created a makeshift passage over the wall. “I saw at least 30 people running into our fields from the flames,” ToI quoted Saini as saying. “They were screaming in pain, their clothes burned off. I didn’t think twice; I grabbed the ladder,” he added.

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Realising many victims were too weak to climb, Saini helped them over the wall one by one.

Describing the harrowing scenes at Kandoi Hospital, Dr Raman Kandoi, the owner of the health facility, said, “About 30 people with varying degrees of burns arrived in despair, begging for help. Their skin was burning, and they were writhing in pain.”

“Even as a surgeon, it was a horrifying scene to witness,” he added.

Dr Kandoi and his wife, who is also a doctor, immediately started preliminary treatment. “We always keep a couple of ambulances on standby, given our proximity to the highway. We used them to rush the victims to SMS Hospital,” he explained.

He added, “At least 10 people had burns exceeding 60%. Time was critical, so we made multiple ambulance trips to transport everyone. It took three to four rounds to get all the patients to the hospital.”

Death toll in rises to 14

The death toll in the LPG tanker accident on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway rose to 14 on Saturday. Officials said more than 30 people who suffered burn injuries in the massive crash are undergoing treatment.

“Five charred bodies were received yesterday. Eight others have died. Total 14 deaths have been reported so far. Twenty-seven patients are admitted to SMS hospital and undergoing treatment. Seven are on ventilator support,” Dr Sushil Bhati, Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital Superintendent, said.

He added that the body of one more victim was taken to another hospital.

Five bodies are yet to be identified, Bhati said.

A truck hit the LPG tanker on the highway in the Bhankrota area in the early hours of Friday, sparking a massive fire that engulfed more than 35 vehicles.

Most of the people injured in the accident are admitted to the ‘Burn Unit’ of the SMS Hospital.