In a great save, a school bus driver has managed to get all students out unhurt after his bus caught fire suddenly on the Mumbai-Nashik road. The incident happened at around 1:30 pm on April 25, Monday.
The bus belonged to a school in Airoli, Navi Mumbai. It had 18 occupants, 16 of whom were students along with the driver and the cleaner. It caught fire near Signal School in Thane West. The Regional Disaster Management Cell Chief, Avinash Sawant, said that it was the timely intervention of the driver that ensured that no one was injured, as noted in a PTI report. The report termed it a "miraculous escape".
Bus fires have not been uncommon in Maharashtra. Many cases have been reported in the past months. On March 8, 2022, a bus with 55 passengers caught on fire in Nagpur. Luckily, no casualties had been reported in this incident as well. The bus had similarly caught fire in the afternoon and it was the driver who had made the first attempt to douse the flames. He had tried to put the fire out using a portable fire extinguisher, following which the fire department had been alerted around 3:47 pm. Then, two firefighters had been engaged to put out the blaze that had originated from the engine area, below the driver’s cabin.
As for the current school bus incident, no more details have been mentioned.
