Vijayawada: Quick action by the driver helped passengers escape a fire that broke out on a RTC bus, at Pedda Amberpet on the Outer Ring Road on Thursday night. The Rajdhani service from Hyderabad to Guntur caught fire at about 11 am. According to reports, the fire broke out due to a short circuit in the air-conditioning unit and spread throughout the bus.
The driver first noticed the fire and stopped the bus by the road side and helped the passengers deboard quickly. The number of passengers on the bus could not be ascertained.
Passengers and passersby on the busy highway called the fire brigade which reached the spot and extinguished the fire. The local police registered the case and started an investigation. The bus was totally destroyed by the fire.
Videos posted on social media showed passengers waiting on the roadside and the bus burning. Many passengers could not retrieve their luggage which they had loaded into the hold.
