25 passengers alight from the bus five minutes before it catches fire

-Cleaner and driver have a narrow escape: 2 fire tenders brings the fire under control

Sheikh Munir

Aurangabad: A private travels bus caught fire near Kendriya Vidyalay, Nagarnaka on Saturday morning. Luckily, all the 25 passengers got off the bus just five minutes before it caught fire. Two fire tenders brought the fire under control.

Giving more information, chief fire officer RK Sure said, the Himalaya Travels bus (MH-20-CG-0555) traveling from Nagpur to Aurangabad was on its way to Waluj to fill up with diesel after dropping passengers at Mahaveer Chowk at 7 am on Saturday. After crossing Nagarnaka, the bus suddenly caught fire in front of Kendriya Vidyalay. The fire which started from the rear end of the travels reached the cabin in no time. Realizing this, the bus driver and the cleaner stopped the bus on the side of the road and jumped out of the cabin. The incident was immediately reported to the fire brigade. Fire officer duty incharge LP Kolhe, Vinayak Limkar, fire personnel Sangram More, Shivsambha Kalyankar, Sheikh Amir and others rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. The bus has suffered huge loss in this incident. The exact cause of the fire could not be ascertained. The incident was reported at the Chawani police station.

Five minutes save life of 25 passengers

Giving more information, driver Jitendra Bunkar said, fortunately, the fire broke out five minutes after all the 25 passengers got off. The fire tenders arrived on time. Owner Vishal Amritkar had brought the bus on Diwali. Jitendra burst into tears while narrating that a major loss of life was averted.