I-bus reduced to ashes after AC system catches fire

  • | Saturday | 18th March, 2017

I caught a sneak peek of the flames emanating from the rear. Firemen claimed that the fire spread so fast that the bus was reduced to ashes.Atal Indore City Transport Serviecs Ltd (AICTSL), which operated i-Bus services on BRTS, claimed that the fire started in the engine. Some of them even lost their bags and other belongings inside the bus," said the passenger. "Immediately after commuters got down, there was a short circuit in the engine which sounded like a blast. It was enough for me to rush out but not before helping an elderly man sitting next to me.

Indore: Passengers on an I-bus had a narrow escape on Saturday evening when the air conditioned bus caught fire at a bus stop in front of Holkar Science College on the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS).The fire started in the rear section of the bus, where the engine was located, official sources said.A quick-thinking driver noticed flames emanating from the bus in his rearview mirror and raised an alarm.The bus with around 55 passengers was going from Navlakha square to Bhanwarkuan square and had barely halted at the Holkar Science College bus stop at around 5.50pm when panic ensued. As passengers lined up to get off the bus and another queue formed to get on, the driver initiated emergency evacuation measures by opening all the doors.The passengers, most of them returning home from work, jumped out of the burning vehicle as flames ate into the seat cushions.Smoke emanating from the bus could be seen from over four kilometres away from the scene f the incident, eyewitnesses said.As passengers reached to safety, a crowd, mostly students from nearby college hostels, gathered trying to douse the flames.The fire brigade rushed to the spot with three water tankers and doused the flames. Firemen claimed that the fire spread so fast that the bus was reduced to ashes.Atal Indore City Transport Serviecs Ltd (AICTSL), which operated i-Bus services on BRTS, claimed that the fire started in the engine. The reasons why it happened were unknown.A conductor of an I-Bus, which was parked on the opposite lane after it had a flat tyre, told reporters he heard a blast before the flames consumed the bus."Immediately after commuters got down, there was a short circuit in the engine which sounded like a blast. Then the fire started," he said.The bus was completely gutted in a few minutes, but there were no casualties, he added.A bus passenger who was on his way to Bhanwarkuan from Vijay Nagar and was sitting on one of the rear seats of the bus said, "We were jolted off our seats by the screams of the bus driver who told us to evacuate. I caught a sneak peek of the flames emanating from the rear. It was enough for me to rush out but not before helping an elderly man sitting next to me.""Fortunately, all those who were inside the bus managed to run to a safe distance. Some of them even lost their bags and other belongings inside the bus," said the passenger.

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