Bus catches fire in Thane; passengers escape unhurt

65 passengers travelling in a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus had a narrow escape after the vehicle caught fire in Thane. The incident took place at around 8 am in the morning near Utaleshwar, Thane Municipal Corporation' s regional disaster management cell (RDMC) chief Avinash Sawant said.

A short-circuit is suspected to have caused the fire in the bus, which belonged to the Bhiwandi depot. The state bus was on its way to neighbouring Bhiwandi town from Thane, he said."After noticing the fire, the driver immediately stopped the bus and raised an alarm following which the passengers got down. The bus was partly burnt," he said."Local firemen and a team of the RDMC rushed to the spot after being alerted and doused the blaze in half-an-hour," he said.