Close call for 40 students as DTC bus catches fire

A timely alarm raised by students travelling in a DTC bus averted a tragedy on Thursday morning. More than 40 students of Evergreen School were on board the DTC bus when it caught fire near Dharamshila Cancer Hospital in Mayur Vihar Phase-III, around 8am.

A timely alarm raised by students travelling in a DTC bus averted a tragedy on Thursday morning.

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More than 40 students of Evergreen School were on board the DTC bus when it caught fire near Dharamshila Cancer Hospital in Mayur Vihar Phase-III, around 8am.

Showing presence of mind, bus driver Praveen Kumar steered the bus to an isolated spot and quickly evacuated it with the help of conductor Dinesh Chand.

Both Kumar and Chand suffered 20-30 per cent burns and had to be admitted at Safdarjung Hospital.

“Some children detected smoke rising from the CNG kit. They cried for help. Wasting no time, the driver and the conductor got down and detected a leakage in the CNG kit. The driver steered the bus to an isolated place and stopped it,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity. Police said the bus had filled up with smoke by the time the driver stopped and turned it off.

“The driver and the conductor helped the students get out of the bus. They remained inside till everyone else got down. While saving the children, they suffered 20-30 percent burns,” said the officer. A teacher present in the bus also helped evacuate the students.

Police said the vehicle was engulfed in flames soon after this and there was a minor explosion in the CNG kit.

Fire brigade officials were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control.

The students were rushed to their school, which was nearby. None of them was injured in the mishap.