Fire engulfs city bus in Kota; none injured

Kota: A city bus was engulfed in flames amid spiralling smoke after fire erupted reportedly from sparking in bonnet on Railway Station Road outside MBS Hospital in Kota Friday. However, approximately 20 passengers travelling in the bus disembarked swiftly and escaped unscathed.

Chief fire officer at Kota Municipal Corporation Rakesh Vyas said upon report of fire in city bus at approximately 11.30am, four fire tenders were dispatched to the spot that extinguished the fire in roughly 20 minutes, however, the bus had been engulfed in flames and reduced to a skeleton by then. Prima facie, sparking in bonnet wiring was presumably the cause behind massive fire in the bus, he said.

The bus was operating from Sogaria railway station to Nayapura bus stand on Friday when its driver noticed smoke billowing out of the bonnet near Adalat Circle, said supervisor of city bus stand, Bhupendra. The city bus driver, Rakesh Nayak immediately halted the bus at a slight distance near MBS Hospital and facilitated the passengers' evacuation, he said.