Two low-floor buses catch fire, no one hurt

It was a bad day for the Delhi Transportation Corporation (DTC) on Thursday with two of their top-of-the-line low-floor buses catching fire.

It was a bad day for the Delhi Transportation Corporation (DTC) on Thursday with two of their top-of-the-line low-floor buses catching fire.

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This is the fourth case of a DTC bus catching fire within a week and the third low-floor bus that caught fire due to a technical snag.

The first fire:
Time: 6:15 a.m.
Place: Metro Pillar Number 329, Basai Dharapur, Moti Nagar
Route Number: 832 plying between Janakpuri D-Block to Inderlok Metro Station

It was the presence of mind of the driver which aided in getting around 12 passengers out of the bus unhurt.

The low-floor bus that apparently caught fire in West Delhi due to a tyre burst was soon gutted.

“Driver Mahender Singh saw fumes coming out of the bus and swung into action. He parked the bus away from the residential area and hurriedly got the passengers out,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to talk to the media.

One of the passengers then made a PCR call and the fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Three fire tenders of the Delhi
Fire Department doused within 15 minutes. As of now no case has been registered.

In less than three hours of the first incident, another bus was about to catch fire apparently due to the same reason.

The police said the bus had around 15 passengers when the tyre burst and sparks started coming from the engine.

“Prima facie it seems that a tyre burst and it caused the engine to short circuit as sparks came out of the engine. The driver quickly made the passengers get off the bus and bystanders called the PCR,” said a fire official on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Virender Singh said, “A low-floor bus had a few sparks coming from the engine. Emergency services were rushed to the spot.”

Two fire tenders rushed the spot and they prevented any further damage to life and property.