DTC bus gutted in east Delhi’s Jagatpuri, all 50 passengers rescued

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) A DTC low-floor bus carrying around 50 passengers was completely gutted after catching fire in east Delhi’s Jagatpuri area on Thursday, officials said.

No passengers were injured in the incident as all were rescued shortly after the bus caught fire, the officials added.

Station Officer of Delhi Fire Service (DFS), Anoop Singh said a call was received at 9.42 am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames.

The cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit in the vehicle’s air conditioning system, Singh said.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus was en route to Seemapuri when the incident took place, he added.

An eyewitness, Surender Bhola, said a biker noticed smoke coming from the bus engine. He alerted the bus driver, who immediately stopped the vehicle and instructed the passengers to get off, Bhola said.

According to the eyewitness, there were around 50 passengers in the bus and all were rescued.

The incident caused a massive traffic jam at the Jagatpuri traffic light, affecting other commuters. Traffic police later managed to regulate the flow, the DFS officer said.