At least eight passengers had a narrow escape on Sunday afternoon, as fire broke out in a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run BEST bus at Andheri’s Chakala locality in north Mumbai.
The bus number 396 was on its way from Mulund in north-east Mumbai to Andheri when its engine caught fire and the blaze spread to the entire vehicle.
Soon after the fire engulfed the bus, at least eight passengers sitting in the bus at that time ran out of the vehicle.
Before long, an explosion was heard from the burning bus and the vehicle was gutted in the fire. A Maruti car which was moving next to the bus was also destroyed in the blaze.
The fire brigade personnel arrived on the scene soon afterwards and extinguished the blaze. However, the bus had been gutted by then.
“Since today being a Sunday, there was not much of a rush in the bus. There were just seven to eight passengers inside the bus at the time of mishap. All the passengers ran out of the bus soon after fire was noticed in the bus,” an eyewitness said.