Narrow escape for RTC bus passengers

S Around 1 am on Wednesday, smoke billows out of luggage box
S Alert driver gets all passengers out of bus in time
S Clothes, sweet boxes & bread packets crammed in the luggage box which caught fire

Nalgonda: Forty passengers travelling in an APSRTC Garuda bus had a narrow escape at 1 a m on Wednesday when fire and smoke billowed out of the vehicle’s luggage box on the Hyderabad-Nagarjunasagar highway, on the outskirts of Nasarlapalli village, in Chintapalli mandal. The bus, from BHEL Hyderabad, was bound for Nellore.

The smoke was caused by a leak in the battery, which was burnt following a short-circuit. There would have been a disaster, like the recent one in a Volvo bus in Mahabubnagar district killing 44 passengers, had the diesel tank caught fire.

Fire Services personnel from Devarakonda rushed to the spot and took action to control the smoke.

The passengers, who were shivering in cold and scared, raised alarm after smelling smoke which spread out in the entire vehicle. They alerted the driver who alallowed them to jump out through the main door. They travelled in a delux bus of Devarakonda depot, after expressing anguish over lack of safety in the vehicle.

The passengers alleged that the glass windows of the bus did not break after they tried to escape. The luggage box was allegedly packed with clothes,sweet boxes and bread packets, which got burnt along with the airpump.

The RTC officials, including the Devarakonda district manager, who inspected the bus, heaved a sigh of relief after the passengers’ lucky escape, following a close shave with danger. The damaged bus was moved to Chintapally police station.