ELURU: As many as 25 students had a narrow escape when their school bus caught fire at Meenanagar village in Chagallu mandal on Friday. Police said that 30 students of Nirmalagiri English Medium School had boarded the bus after school to return to their homes.
However, five of them got down at Pangidi village. Soon after that, the bus driver, Pendyala Raju noticed smoke emanating from the engine and immediately stopped the bus on the roadside. He directed all the students to vacate the bus after that.
According to information, within minutes of the students leaving the bus, flames had engulfed it. A fire tender from Chagallu rushed to the spot and put out the flames. But by that time, most of the bus was gutted by the fire.
Kovvuru Fire Prevention Officer K Satyananda said that the incident took place at around 4.40 pm, when the bus was dropping students to their respective villages. Short circuit in the engine is suspected to be the reason behind the fire, he said. The school management and officials have heaved a sigh of relief as no student was hurt in the accident.