In second bus fire in 12 hours, driver evacuates 14 passengers near Mumbai

A long-distance passenger bus caught fire on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway early Thursday morning, but all 14 passengers escaped unharmed after the driver noticed smoke coming from the vehicle’s air-conditioning system and quickly pulled over.

The incident occurred around 7:25 am near kilometre 16.600 on the Mumbai-bound carriageway. The bus, registered in Madhya Pradesh, was travelling from Udaipur, Rajasthan, to Pune.

The driver, identified by the police as Chhatrapal Singh Kishor Singh Vahia, spotted the smoke, pulled over and evacuated the passengers from the vehicle.

He attempted to control the fire using a fire extinguisher available in the vehicle. But the fire rapidly intensified and engulfed the entire bus.

A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation fire-fighting vehicle and two fire engine vehicles from New Panvel and the Khopoli Fire Brigade were sent to the spot and put out the fire.

Officers at the Rasayani police station told the bus driver to lodge a formal complaint.

Greater Noida tragedy

The incident came hours after another long-distance bus registered in Bihar caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, at 11pm on Wednesday.

Nine people were killed in the fire. In this case also, police said the fire appeared to have started in the vehicle’s air-conditioning system.

Some passengers raised an alarm after noticing a burning smell when the bus, which started from Noida and was headed to Bihar, reached the Yamuna Expressway, and told the driver to stop. “By the time the driver stopped the vehicle, the fire broke out and quickly engulfed the vehicle. There were 35 passengers onboard. Nine people, including a woman, failed to escape,” Jewar station house officer Ajay Kumar Singh.