Delhi school bus catches fire in Kaushambi, 15 students escape unhurt

Officials of the fire department said two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the flames were doused in about half-an-hour

About 15 students and staff aboard an air-conditioned school bus had a lucky escape after the bus, which was on its way to a school in Delhi’s Preet Vihar, caught fire in Ghaziabad’s Kaushambi on Thursday morning.

The bus was on its way to the school in Preet Vihar, Delhi, on Thursday morning when it caught fire in Kaushambi. (HT Photo)

The incident happened on a road behind the Kaushambi police station and the fire station at Vaishali received a distress call around 7.32am. Officials of the fire department said two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the flames were doused in about half-an-hour.

As soon as the smoke was noticed, the staff and locals helped safely evacuate about 15 students. No one suffered injuries even though the air-conditioned bus was gutted. The students were on their way to school. We found no apparent reason for the fire, but it is suspected that it started due to a short-circuit. The school thereafter arranged another transport for take the children to school,” said Rahul Pal, chief fire officer (CFO), Ghaziabad.

The CFO said the driver of the bus probably saw smoke coming from the bus engine and halted the vehicle immediately in Kaushambi, and safely evacuated students even as the fire department was alerted.

The school authorities in Delhi did not respond to calls for a comment on the matter. Police said that the bus bore a registration number of Gautam Budh Nagar.

Soon after the incident with the school bus, the fire department received yet another call from Vasundhara where the lower portion of a gift gallery shop caught fire.

“We received this call around 8.56am and rushed two fire tenders. The fire was about to spread to nearby shops and thick smoke was billowing out from the lower basement portion. Our personnel doused the fire and prevented its spread to other shops. No injury or loss of life was reported,” the CFO said, adding that the fire probably started due to a short-circuit.