Bus carrying school kids catches fire, alert driver saves the day

NEW DELHI: A major tragedy was averted in West Delhi’s Nangloi when a bus carrying schoolchildren suddenly caught fire on Wednesday afternoon. The alert driver suddenly stopped the bus and averted what could have been a major disaster.

On Wednesday, a bus carrying around 35 schoolchildren and school staff caught fire as soon as it reached the Nangloi flyover in West Delhi. The driver saw the smoke from the engine and sensed danger. He shouted and alerted the students to get down from the bus. As the bus caught fire, the locals present in the area gathered and tried to douse the flames by themselves without waiting for the fire tenders to come to rescue. A passer-by gave a call to the fire department informing about the bus fire.

However, one door of the bus was locked but the school children and staff got down from the other door.

The bus driver Kartar Singh said: “I was bringing the children from Chattrasal Stadium. Suddenly, I saw smoke in the bus. First thing I did was to get the students and staff out of the bus.”

The schoolchildren were returning from Chattrasal Stadium after taking part in the 26th January parade rehearsal. The traffic on that particular stretch was disturbed for some time and even the fire tenders took time to reach the spot. People at the spot were seen carrying water buckets to control the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.