VIJAYAWADA: A private luxury bus went up in flames and fortunately no one was injured in the mishap which took place at Tummalapalem Centre near Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district on Thursday.
According to Ibrahimpatnam circle inspector J Murali Krishna, the bus belonged to Tirumala Travels of Hyderabad. As it was traveling from Hyderabad to Vijayawada, it had a breakdown at Paritala Wednesday. The passengers were shifted to another bus.
The bus after repairs began its journey to Vijayawada but after travelling for some distance, smoke began emanating from the battery area. Drivers of passing buses alerted the driver and advised him to jump off and save his life.
The driver, however, parked the vehicle by the roadside at Tummalapalem Centre and ran away. Fire tenders, alerted by a woman, reached the spot but by then the bus went up in flames.
District Fire Officer D Niranjan Reddy said that they were alerted by a woman that a bus was on fire at 1.18 pm.
After verifying the details and locating the spot, a vehicle from Kothapet was rushed to the spot at 1.33 pm. Later two fire vehicles from Kondapalli and VTPS arrived but by then the bus was completely burnt.