42 passengers escape narrowly after bus catches fire in Amethi

Lucknow: A major accident was averted in UP’s Amethi when an UPSRTC bus caught fire on Monday morning. All 42 passengers, along with the driver and conductor, escaped safely before the vehicle was engulfed in flames.The incident occurred on the Ayodhya-Prayagraj Highway when the Sultanpur depot bus (UP44 BT 4036) was travelling towards Pratapgarh. The bus was being driven by Mohammad Anees, while Ravikant was the conductor.As soon as the bus reached near Durgapur crossing in Piparpur area, it suddenly caught fire. The conductor said the blaze was triggered by a short circuit in the moving bus. As soon as the fire broke out, all 42 passengers, along with the driver and conductor, quickly got off the bus and moved to safety. The fire spread so rapidly that the entire bus was reduced to ashes within a few minutes.Visuals of the burning bus soon went viral on social media.The incident disrupted traffic for half an hour, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on the highway. SHO Arun Kumar Mishra reached the spot with a police team. With the help of local residents, efforts were made to control the fire until a fire brigade vehicle from the CRPF Group Centre arrived and helped extinguish the blaze.Further investigation into the exact cause of the fire is underway.