A major tragedy was averted on Saturday morning when the King Long bus of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking caught fire.
A major tragedy was averted on Saturday morning when the King Long bus of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking caught fire. No casualties or injuries were reported.
The King Long bus on route no. 461 was travelling between Mulund and Borivali when the incident happened on the LBS Marg, near Huma Adlabs, at Kanjurmarg.
The bus carrying 30 to 40 passengers was immediately evacuated, thanks to the wide door at the centre. The BEST has already placed an order for 200 more such buses to ply on the city roads.
According to a police source, the incident happened at around 8.30am when the driver got an indication about some problem in the engine, which is situated at the rear end. “There was some problem with the wiring in the engine and smoke was detected by the smoke detector and an alarm raised. However, since the driver could not hear the alarm, the fire spread,” said Dilip Patel, chairman of BEST committee.
Thereafter, commuters noticed sparks and fire from the rear window. They immediately started yelling and the driver Ananda Bhonsale, 42, brought the bus to a halt. “The exact cause of the accident and the financial loss needs to be evaluated,” said S Samant, public relations officer of BEST undertaking.
However, this is the second bus which will have to be discarded by the BEST as the bus was completely charred in the accident. “It is true that this was the second incident. However, the exact cause of the accident will be evaluated and a report will be submitted within the next week,” said Patel.
It may be recalled that on April 10 last year, a similar incident had occurred when a bus caught fire near Anand Nagar. Fortunately, the bus wasn’t carrying any passengers as it was returning to Anik Depot after dropping all the passengers near Cadbury junction in Thane.
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