KERALA
MANATHAVADI: A Volvo bus (Kallada) that was plying Mananthavadi-Mysore route caught fire in the wee hours on Saturday. The bus K A 01 AB 1361 was going from Ernakulam to Bangalore when it caught fire at around 2:30 am. The fire was notice within ten minutes after the bus departed from Mananthavadi.
The primary assessment is that the mishap occurred after the bus came into contact with electric line. The passengers who had not gone to sleep noticed the sound of the bus’ body brushing against the electric wire. They asked the driver to stop the bus and jumped out of the bus. This however, avoided a big tragedy. Only one among them got injured.
Jithesh from Thalassery got electric shock in the incident. He, who was thrown off the bus, has been admitted to Manathavady district hospital with minor injuries. In total there were 38 passengers inside the bus. About 90 per cent of the bus got damaged due to fire.
Policemen, Fireforce personnel and locals who reached the spot toiled hours to put out the fire.
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MANANTHAVADY: The passengers of a running private bus had a miraculous escape after the air-conditioned vehicle burst into flames around 2.30 am at Thazhe 54, around five km from here, in the early hours of Saturday. The bus was plying from Ernakulam to Bengaluru.
There were 38 passengers, including the bus crew, on board when the incident occurred. One passenger, identified as Jithesh, hailing from Thalassery, sustained minor injuries when he jumped out from the bus in panic.
The Volvo bus, belonging to Kallada Travels, was completely gutted. Primary interrogations revealed that the bus, bearing a Karnataka registration number, caught fire after the top portion of the bus touched the overhead high-voltage electrical lines while the driver tried to negotiate a curve.
A major accident was averted as all the passengers in the bus were awake as it had a nshort stopover at Mananthavady.
“The driver noticed flames on the right top of the front portion of the bus, so he stopped the vehicle and immediately alerted the passengers who got down within seconds. The fire spread inside and it got completely burnt,” said a bus employee.Before fire tenders from Mananthavady could reach the spot, the fire spread all through the bus, along with passengers’ luggage in the cabin.
The Mananthavady police have registered a case.
