Bilaspur, 23 jan
A case of fire in HRTC bus has come to light. This bus was going from the capital Shimla to Nagrota Bagwan. Suddenly a bus caught fire at Avari near Kandraur on Shimla-Pathankot National Highway. There has been no loss of life in this incident. A major accident was averted due to the wisdom of the driver and the local people.
As soon as the bus driver saw smoke rising from the engine, he immediately stopped the bus and asked all the passengers to get out. Ejected safely. At the time of the incident, there were a total of 8 people including 6 passengers, driver and conductor in the bus. Seeing the flames rising from the bus, people from nearby villages immediately reached the spot. Local people stopped the fire from spreading by bringing water from a nearby hand pump. As soon as information about the incident was received, the fire brigade team reached the spot and completely controlled the fire.
There was no harm to any passenger in this incident. Bus operator Sandeep Singh said, ‘All the passengers were evacuated safely in time. The situation was brought under control with the wisdom of the driver and the help of the local people, due to which a major accident was averted.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but it is believed that the incident occurred due to a technical fault in the engine.
HRTC is considered the lifeline of Himachal. Every day thousands of passengers avail the bus service of Himachal Road Transport Corporation. The corporation provides bus services to the people even in remote areas.