20 passengers escape unhurt even as bus goes up in flames in Anantapur

Officials told The Hindu that the incident took place at 3.40 a.m. and the alert driver Venugopal Reddy veered the bus to one side and asked the passengers to alight immediately and within no time the entire bus went up in flames.

Twenty passengers of OVR Travels bus had a miraculous escape, when the vehicle caught fire at Singanamala Crossroads on Anantapur - Guntur National Highway 544-D, after its rear right side tyre burst and the sparks from steel underparts of the vehicle led to the fire.

Singanamala Circle Inspector Ashrar Basha and District Fire Officer V. Srinivasa Reddy told The Hindu that the incident took place at 3.40 a.m. and the alert driver Venugopal Reddy veered the bus to one side and asked the passengers to alight immediately and within no time the entire bus went up in flames.

The bus is owned by one Nagarjuna Reddy of Yellanur Mandal in Anantapur district.

Mr. Basha said 23 passengers had boarded bus No. AP39W6838 at Bengaluru and three of them got down at Anantapur and the rest 20 were bound for different destinations between Tadipatri and Bethamcherla.

The bus turned into ashes as the fire department was informed at 3.50 a.m. and despite a fire tender rushing from Anantapur, it could not save the outer body as it is highly inflammable, said Mr. Srinivasa Reddy. Only the outer frame of the vehicle has remained.

Another container-trailer carrying old TV and Computer scrap from Hyderabad to Bengaluru caught fire at 1 a.m. at Rapthadu on Anantapur outskirts on National Highway No.44 1 when the driver and the cleaner had got down for tea.

The district fire officer said some scrap parts inside the container broke and generated heat leading to the fire. The fire tender from Anantapur rushed to the spot and put out the fire.