Navi Mumbai: It was a narrow escape for passengers after an electric bus of Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) caught fire in Kharghar on Wednesday morning. The bus was going to Kharghar station from Taloja Gao.
According to Kharghar Fire station, they received the fire call around 11.38 and it took around one hour to control the fire. The bus was completely gutted in the fire.
Cause of fire still a mystery
The bus which caught fire was procured by NMMT around four to five years ago. An NMMT official said that route number 53 which was coming from Taloja caught fire. The exact reason is not known. However, it is believed that a short circuit could have caused the fire.
Alert passenger saved the day
It was only when a passenger got down from the bus at Gharkul bus stand in Sector 15 in Kharghar, that he noticed smoke coming out from the bonnet of the bus. He accordingly alerted the bus driver and conduct and around 15 to 20 passengers on board got down immediately. Soon the bus was engulfed in fire and it was the brigade who controlled the fire.
An NMMT official said that they would investigate how the fire broke out. If there is any technical problem with the bus.
