DTC bus gutted in fire on Mehrauli-Badarpur road

A Delhi Transport Corporation’s (DTC) electric bus caught fire near a hospital on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road in south Delhi on Thursday afternoon, officials of the Delhi Fire Services said. All passengers were evacuated safely on time, with no injuries reported, they added.

According to DFS, a call regarding the blaze was received at 12.57 pm, following which fire tenders were dispatched to the location. The bus, operating on route number 544 from RK Puram to Badarpur Border, was completely engulfed in flames, it said. The firefighters reached the spot and successfully extinguished the flames, the officials said. The bus conductor, Arvind Kumar, said he witnessed smoke coming out from the dashboard area.

“I immediately asked the driver to stop the bus and asked all the passengers to vacate the vehicle. We tried to stop the smoke using fire extinguishers from our and some other vehicles. But the fire spread rapidly,” Kumar said. Kanti Devi, a passenger, said that she takes the same bus every day to reach Badarpur. “I was going to work when the bus conductor asked everyone to vacate the bus.

15 passengers were travelling in the bus when the incident occurred. I also helped everyone exit the bus safely, and ensured to run away to a safer distance,” she added.