Bus turns into ball of fire, but passengers exit safely in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: A major disaster was averted as passengers travelling in a private travels bus jumped to safety after the bus caught fire near JNTU Metro station in Kukatpally on Friday night.
It is learnt smoke billowed out of the AC unit in the bus at around 9.30 pm. As soon as the driver noticed this, he brought the bus to a halt. Soon, a ball of fire enveloped the bus. Scared passengers rushed out even as the fire engulfed the bus completely. There were around 10 passengers in the bus when it caught the fire.
Locals immediately alerted fire department officials, who rushed to the spot. The fire was controlled in half an hour. A major part of the bus was, however, destroyed.
The AC sleeper bus was on its way to Goa from Hyderabad. The bus picked up passengers at Miyapur and as it was reaching the JNTU metro station, sparks were noticed in the bus.
As the Miyapur-Kukatpally stretch has high density traffic, the fire accident led to a traffic jam as curious onlookers gathered in large numbers.
Police will probe if the fire was caused by an electric short-circuit or any other reason. "When the bus reached JNTU, the driver was informed about the fire and he immediately stopped the bus and jumped out. All the 10 passengers got down the bus," Kukatpally fire station officials told STOI.