A Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking bus caught fire near the Gokuldham market on Friday morning.
According to officials, the bus, which was plying on route number 646 from the Goregaon Station (East) to Nagri Nivara, was on Film City road, some distance ahead of the Dindoshi bus depot, when the fire broke out at 7.20 a.m.
A BEST official said that a loud sound was heard from the CNG tank pressure gauge near the front left tyre of the bus, following which the driver, conductor and three passengers on board alighted from the bus before it burst into flames.
“The entire vehicle was gutted in the fire. The Fire Brigade later doused the flames and the bus was towed to the Dindoshi depot,” the official said.
Police Inspector Ganesh Pawar, Dindoshi police station, said that the fire seems to have broken out due to a fault in the CNG kit. “The front tyres of the bus also burst at the same time that the fire started. All the occupants of the bus are safe and sound,” Mr. Pawar said.
Meanwhile, the signboards of two shopsnear the spot where the fire broke out were damaged in the incident.
Santosh Sharma, a fruit seller who had installed his cart at the spot, said, “I reached the spot at 7.20 a.m to set shop for the day and saw that the bus was on fire. I waited till the bus was towed away and then placed my cart at the spot.”
Vinod Solanki, the owner of a plywood store near the accident site, said that a part of his shop’s signboard sustained minor damage. The signboard of an eatery at the spot was also damaged.
“The shop’s board melted because of the heat of the fire. It was fortunate that shops were not open when the bus caught fire as it was quite early in the morning,” Ehsan Khan, an electrician who witnessed the fire, said.