Bus ferrying migrants for screening gutted in fire in Gujarat's Vadodara

VADODARA: Around 50 migrants from Jharkhand and the driver of a city bus had a narrow escape as the bus they were travelling in caught fire near Khodiyarnagar on Monday afternoon.
The migrants were being taken to a government school at Khodiyarnagar for screening as they were planning to go back to their villages. Sources said that after their registration at mamlatdar’s office near Sama pond they were being taken in the city bus to the school when the bus suddenly caught fire.
“The source of the fire can be known only after we find the driver of the bus. It was completely engulfed when we reached the spot,” said fire officer Amit Chaudhary of Panigate fire station.
“The driver of the bus suddenly stopped the bus in the middle of the road and rushed out. We were confused about what had happened, but then somebody started to shout to get out of the bus,” said Arvindkumar Sah, one of the migrants. As all passengers rushed to get out of the bus, some of them received minor injuries. The migrants left their luggage inside the bus before running out. “My all clothes and three months’ salary that I had received got all charred in the fire,” Sah said.
Another migrant Barika from Latehar district too lost her money in the fire. “I had asked for some money from my family in the village to travel back, but there is nothing left now,” she said. “There was a smoke initially but within a short time it got engulfed,” another migrant said.
“There could have been a major disaster had the bus’s CNG tank got in contact with flames. After the fire was controlled to some extent, our staff managed to turn off the valve of the tank,” Chaudhary added.
In Video:Bus ferrying migrants for screening catches fire in Gujarat's Vadodara