Bus catches fire on Sydney Harbour Bridge

SYDNEY: Australian police said yesterday that a bus caught fire at the southern entrance of Sydney’s famous Harbour Bridge, prompting a brief panic that the fire could spread.

New South Wales Police told AFP that firefighters had “extinguished” the blaze shortly before midnight Friday.

All passengers had earlier disembarked safely.

Local traffic authorities said three of the bridge’s eight lanes were closed as a result of the fire.

Traffic images showed the normally bumper-to-bump thoroughfare virtually empty, even as many Sydneysiders enjoyed a balmy F riday night out.

The incident appears to echo a fire in 2016, when a commuter bus burst into flames because of electrical malfunction.

The cause of this most recent fire is not yet known. — AFP