Narrow escape for driver as CNG bus catches fire in Ggn

Gurugram: A CNG-run college bus was charred beyond recognition in minutes on Tuesday morning after it caught fire immediately after the gas was filled. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

Police said the incident was reported near HUDA City Centre Metro station early Tuesday morning.

While the bus was not carrying any passengers, the attentive driver had immediately felt the danger when he saw sparks coming from the vehicle and immediately got out of it.

A call about the blaze was received at the fire station in Sector-29, from where firemen were sent to the spot.

Though the firemen doused the blaze in a short time, they could not salvage the bus.

"I was lucky to be saved from the incident. This is a CNG-run bus and I had just filled it with the CNG," said the bus driver.

Tuesday's incident was not for the first time that a CNG-operated vehicle suddenly caught fire.

In some similar incidents, casualties have also been reported in the past. In March this year, a CNG-run vehicle caught fire, which claimed a man's live who was completely charred

Another incident had occurred in September last year in the same location, in which three people were killed after the CNG kit in their vehicle exploded.

The victims were travelling in a 15-year-old Maruti Esteem car, even though travelling in vehicles older than 15 years has been banned by the Supreme Court in the National Capital Region.

Such tragic mishaps have brought to light the perils of driving old vehicles fitted with new CNG kits.

Recently, a CNG-operated private school bus carrying children caught fire at the Dwarka expressway. Fortunately, none of the passengers received grievous injuries and all the children travelling in the bus were rescued. Moreover, Haryana public transport buses are the most common scapegoats of such incidents.