Karnataka bus catches fire, passengers escape

Seventeen passengers Thursday had a miraculous escape when a state-run bus in which they were travelling suddenly caught fire in the Karnataka capital city's northwest suburb, an official said.

"The incident occurred around 5.30 p.m., when the bus engine in the rear side caught fire suddenly, and rapidly engulfed the entire vehicle. An alert driver and conductor pulled out all the passengers before the bus was gutted," Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) spokesperson T.S. Latha told IANS here.

The intra-state bus was on a scheduled trip from Hassan, about 180 km from Bangalore.

"Though the semi-luxury bus has 56 seats, the majority of passengers had alighted en-route and the remaining 17 were travelling to Bangalore. They were later brought into the city centre by another bus," Latha said.

State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy ordered an inquiry to ascertain the cause of the fire.

"It is a new bus, which was pressed into service in December 2012, and it had logged about 3,87,000 km till date," Lata said.

On Oct 30, 45 passengers were burnt alive in a private luxury bus near Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, while going to Hyderabad from Bangalore.