Narrow escape for 40 school children as BMTC bus catches fire near Mudigere

Bengaluru, Dec 4: As many as 40 school children had a narrow escape when a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus carrying them to Srirangapatna caught fire near Mudigere near Channapattana on Saturday.

Around 300 children belonging to BEL school in Jalahalli were on their way to Srirangapatna in six buses for an educational trip. The driver of one of the buses noticed smoke and stopped the bus asking the children to get down. Villagers also rushed to the spot and helped the children and teachers alight. Electrical short-circuit is suspected to have been the reason behind the fire.

Traffic movement on the busy Mysore-Bangalore Road was disrupted for over two hours till the fire and emergency service personnel rushed to the spot and put out the fire.

The children were later taken to Srirangapatna in another bus.

The bus, KA 57F105, belonged to Depot number 8 of the BMTC and was part of a casual contract scheme which the school had opted for. “There were six buses which had been hired and this particular bus caught fire because of a short circuit. Everyone managed to escape. We are looking into the reasons behind the short circuit, but it seems to be a mechanical fault,” a BMTC spokesperson said.