NEW DELHI: A Delhi Transport Corporation bus caught fire on Thursday near Jagatpuri bus stand in Delhi’s Shahdara area, an official said. All the 40 passengers onboard the bus escaped safely minutes before catching the fire.
No injuries or casualties were reported in the incident. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said that they received information at 9.48 am regarding a fire that had broken out in a cluster bus near the Jagatpuri bus stand.
At the same time, the Delhi Fire Service also received a call about the incident following which it rushed three fire engines to the spot.
“After reaching the spot, it was found that fire broke out in Blue Colour cluster bus plying on route no 340 between Central Secretariat and Seemapuri,” the DCP said.
According to the officer, a motorcycle-borne man, riding just behind the ill-fated bus, saw smoke emanating from the engine of the car following which he alerted the driver of the bus. The driver then immediately stopped the bus and checked it.
As the fire was about to break out, all the passengers were immediately asked to deboard the bus. Within minutes, the entire bus could be seen engulfed in flames. The police after reaching the spot, cordoned off the area, while the firemen took less than 30 minutes to douse the flames. The bus was completely burnt in the incident.
The officer informed that during the preliminary examination, it seemed that the fire broke out due to a short circuit in the air conditioning system. Thirty buses caught fire in Delhi in the last eight years, including four in 2023, according to the city government’s data on fire incidents in DTC and cluster buses.