School bus catches fire in Kerala, none injured

School bus fire near Thevara-Kundanoor bridge in Ernakulam, Kerala; no children onboard, driver and attendant safe.

A school bus caught fire near the Thevara-Kundanoor bridge along the national highway 966 in Ernakulam district of Kerala on July 10 morning. However, there were no children onboard the vehicle, belonging to Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thevara, at the time of the incident.

The bus driver and a woman attendant were on their way to pick up students when the bus caught fire around 8.45 a.m near the approach road to the bridge, according to Fire and Rescue Services personnel at the Thripunithura station.

As per the statement given by the driver, he spotted smoke rising from the steering area. He immediately used the fire extinguisher to douse possible fire. However, it did not help as the smoke grew thicker and the vehicle was soon engulfed in flames. The driver and the attendant vacated the bus immediately and escaped unhurt. An initial attempt by local residents and passers-by to douse the fire using water from a tanker that was passing through failed.

Fire tender units from Thripunithura and Gandhinagar stations reached the spot soon and the blaze was brought under control. The vehicle was completely gutted in the incident.

The Fire and Rescue Services personnel said smoke from the engine, likely triggered by a spark, may have caused the fire. However, the exact cause can be ascertained only after detailed technical inspection of the vehicle by the Motor Vehicles department, they said.