Raisen (Madhya Pradesh): Around 40 passengers had a narrow escape after a private bus travelling from Indore to Rewa caught fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district in the early hours of Thursday, police said. No casualties were reported in the incident.
The fire broke out near a roadside eatery at Bamhori village under the Sultanpur police station limits, about 40 kilometres from the district headquarters. According to police, the blaze started suddenly near the rear wheel of the bus and spread rapidly, engulfing the entire vehicle within nearly 20 minutes.
Sultanpur Station House Officer (SHO) Santosh Singh said none of the passengers initially noticed the fire. The situation came to light after the driver of a truck following the bus spotted flames rising from the vehicle. The truck driver overtook the bus on the Jabalpur–Jaipur highway around 2 am, forced it to stop and alerted the bus driver.
Following the warning, panic gripped the passengers, many of whom were asleep on berths. They were quickly woken up and rushed out of the bus, the SHO said. All passengers managed to escape safely, though the bus and their luggage were completely destroyed in the fire.
Some passengers, including Santosh Kushwaha and Irfan Khan, said several travellers lost valuables in the incident and raised concerns over compensation for their losses. They also alleged that repeated attempts to contact the transport company went unanswered for several hours.
Police said another bus belonging to the same company arrived on the route later on Thursday morning, after which the stranded passengers were sent to their destination. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the fire.
