DESTROYED
Bus bursts into flames on bypass
A DOUBLE-DECKER bus was destroyed after bursting into flames on a bypass.
The A487 near Porthmadog was closed for almost two hours after flames engulfed the Express Motors vehicle.
There were no passengers on board as the bus headed to Dolgellau shortly after 7am on Friday and the driver escaped unharmed despite the inside of the vehicle being left a blackened shell.
A diversion was put in place through Porthmadog, with heavy traffic quickly building up in the town centre until the road reopened at 9am.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was caused by a mechanical fault. A spokeswoman said: “We were called at 7.15am.
“Two crews attended the scene and extinguished the fire. The cause has been determined to be due to a mechanical fault.”
This is the third blaze on an Express Motors bus in recent years – one of its vehicles caught fire in Rhosgadfan in 2014 and flames ripped through a school bus near Dolgellau in 2013.
The Penygroes-based company confirmed the driver in yesterday’s incident was not hurt and said all bus services would continue as normal.
A spokeswoman said: “Our drivers are okay. All of our services are running as usual.”
The firm was recently involved in a coach crash in France which saw two teenagers seriously hurt.