School buses catch fire in Kukatpally

Hyderabad: Two buses belonging to Bhashyam public school in Kukatpally caught fire on Sunday. 

Allegedly, there were issues between the school management and locals over the buses being parked on the main road. But a fire mishap case has been registered for the probe, said Kukatpally police.

At around 2.30 pm on Sunday, two buses parked on the main road at Vivekanandanagar caught fire. Locals noticed the thick smoke emanating from the buses and alerted the firefighters.

While one of the buses (AP 29 TA 5608) got completely burnt, another was partially burnt. The locals reportedly told the police that some unidentified persons were indulging in illegal activities in the buses.

It has been learnt that the locals were unhappy about the school management using the main road to park their vehicles, causing inconvenience to motorists. There have also been arguments between bus drivers and the locals earlier over the same issue.

Kukatpally sub-inspector Narayan Singh said, “The fire mishap is suspected to be a result of a short circuit in the engine, as there was no external fire triggering material. The buses were parked in an open place beside residential apartments. The locals alleged that the management parks their buses in the colony as three of their branches are located in close vicinity and all the 11 buses are parked in the same place.”

Responding to a query on the negligence of the police about the illegal activities taking place near the buses, S-I Singh said, “No illegal activities take place there as alleged by the locals. Sometimes teenagers and young couples spend private time, but vacate the place on seeing the patrolling vehicles.”

Meanwhile, school principal Sridevi said that the bus that caught fire was not being used to transport school children as it had problems.