Twenty passengers of OVR Travels bus had a miraculous escape, when the vehicle caught fire at Singanamala Crossroads on Anantapur - Guntur National Highway 544-D, after its rear right side tyre burst and the sparks from steel underparts of the vehicle led to the fire.
Singanamala Circle Inspector Ashrar Basha and District Fire Officer V. Srinivasa Reddy told The Hindu that the incident took place at 3.40 a.m. and the alert driver Venugopal Reddy veered the bus to one side and asked the passengers to alight immediately and within no time the entire bus went up in flames.
The bus is owned by one Nagarjuna Reddy of Yellanur Mandal in Anantapur district.
An OVR Travels passenger bus caught fire at Singanamala in Anantapur district in the early hours of April 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: R.V.S. PRASAD
Mr. Basha said 23 passengers had boarded bus No. AP39W6838 at Bengaluru and three of them got down at Anantapur and the rest 20 were bound for different destinations between Tadipatri and Bethamcherla.
The bus turned into ashes as the fire department was informed at 3.50 a.m. and despite a fire tender rushing from Anantapur, it could not save the outer body as it is highly inflammable, said Mr. Srinivasa Reddy. Only the outer frame of the vehicle has remained.
Container goes up in flames
Another container-trailer carrying old TV and Computer scrap from Hyderabad to Bengaluru caught fire at 1 a.m. at Rapthadu on Anantapur outskirts on National Highway No.44 1 when the driver and the cleaner had got down for tea.
The district fire officer said some scrap parts inside the container broke and generated heat leading to the fire. The fire tender from Anantapur rushed to the spot and put out the fire.
