Nalgonda: Private bus catches fire, passengers safe

Nalgonda: A private bus was completely burnt in fire and all the passengers were escaped with the alertness of the driver of the vehicle in Cherlapally on Monday.

The incident took place on Narketpally- Addanki state highway at Cherlapally under Nalgonda municipal limits on Sunday late night.

According to sources and passengers of the bus, a private bus bearing number AP 36 X 3654 with 40 passengers on board was heading towards Ongole from Hyderabad. The bus' engine caught fire when it reached the outskirts of Cherlapally at 1.30 am.

Driver after observing the fire in the engine stopped the bus immediately and alerted all the 40 passengers and informed them to get down from the bus immediately before the fire could engulf the entire bus. Following the driver's instructions, all the 40 passengers got down from the bus within minutes. Soon fire engulfed the entire bus before the arrival of fire engines to the spot. It took two hours to fire engines to control the fire.

The incident created panic among the bus passengers and residents of Cherlapally and luggage of most of the passengers become a heap of ashes as the bus was completely damaged in the fire.

On complaint of bus driver, local Nalgonda police filed a case and took up investigation.