Vijaywada-bound bus goes up in flames in Prakasam

A day after an APSRTC bus went up in flames in Vijayawada, another Vijaywada-bound bus caught fire in the Konakanamitla police station limits in Prakasam district on Wednesday.

Forty-four passengers travelling by the airconditioned private bus from Badvel town in Kadapa district, escaped unhurt as the alert bus driver stopped the bus on noticing billowing smoke, Special Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police U. Nagaraju said.

All the panic-struck passengers rushed out of the burning bus, leaving their belongings in the vehicle. Electric short circuit is suspected to be the cause for the mishap. Fire tenders from Addanki and Darsi fought the flames for over two hours and put out the fire, District Fire Officer E. Peddi Reddy said.

Following the accident, police stopped vehicular movement on the State highway for some time. Officials from the Road Transport Office (RTO) rushed to the spot and began a probe into the accident which left the bus gutted.

Over 50 passengers had a narrow escape when the vehicle went up in flames following a suspected leakage of Compressed Natural Gas in Vijayawada on Tuesday.