Two faint as metro bus catches fire

Service between twin cities remained suspended for hours

RAWALPINDI:

At least two passengers collapsed due to suffocation from smoke when a metro bus caught a blaze at the 6th Road bus station.

The bus was also partially damaged in the fire. Sources said this is the second such incident within a year in which a metro bus has caught fire, jeopardising the lives of commuters.

Experts have attributed the increase in the number of fire incidents in metro buses to overcrowding.

Eyewitnesses said that a fire suddenly broke out in the rear of the metro bus travelling from Rawalpindi to Islamabad. “There was so much smoke coming from the fire that the entire bus was filled with it within minutes,” they said and added that the driver immediately stopped the bus as it caught fire.

They said the passengers saved their lives by breaking the windows of the bus and jumping out of it. “The passengers were seen running away from the bus on the metro bus track,” they said.

Sources claimed the intensity of the fire increased due to the lack of proper fire extinguishers in the metro bus.

A spokesperson for Rescue 1122 said that the fire in the metro bus was brought under control. “Two passengers, who were affected by the smoke, have been shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital,” the spokesperson said, adding the fire broke out in the rear engine of the bus, leaving it partially damaged.

On the other hand, the Metro Bus Authority has ordered an investigation into the fire incident on the bus.

Following the incident, the affected bus was removed from the track and shifted to the depot and the bus service was stopped for two hours due to which the passengers gathered at the metro stations faced severe problems. After the track was cleared, the bus service was restored.

In August 2022, a metro bus with passengers aboard caught fire near the Rehmanabad station. The driver, watching the flames leap out of the bus, pulled the bus over and opened the doors, allowing passengers to disembark to safety. No casualties were reported in the incident, however.

The bus was travelling from Rawalpindi to Islamabad. The Rahmanabad metro station was also damaged due to the severity of the fire. Five fire tenders of Rescue 1122 brought the fire under control after an effort of an hour.

The metro bus service remained suspended between the twin cities for five hours after the fire incident and as a result, passengers had to face serious problems.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2023.