School Bus Catches Fire, Students Escape Unhurt

Vijayawada: Nearly 40 students had a miraculous escape when their school bus developed smoke and caught fire due to burning of wires when it was on its way to take them to a private school at Jaggaiahpet in NTR district on Saturday morning.

The school bus, after collecting students from nearby villages, was proceeding to the school located in Jaggaiahpet town. Some teachers who were travelling in the bus along with the students sensed the burning smell of wires and alerted the driver and by that time, a small fire started raging.

The bus driver immediately cut the wires connected to the battery while the local youngsters rushed to the bus carrying water and poured it on the fire and alerted the fire and rescue authorities. The youngsters along with the fire personnel put out the fire without spreading to further areas in the bus.

Meanwhile, the students were brought down from the bus to safety and the school management was alerted about the mishap. No student suffered any burn injury in the mishap and the school authorities sent another vehicle to pick up the stranded students, according to police and fire personnel.