Van catches fire, 15 children rescued

Fifteen students of a middle school in the town had a miraculous escape, when the van in which they were returning home caught fire. None of the students was injured, the police said.

The private van that used to transport the children between their school and home was proceeding to E. Kumaralingapuram on the Virudhunagar-Sivakasi highway.

When it was crossing an engineering college on the outskirts of the town, students of the college found smoke gushing out of the van and alerted the driver. The students also helped rescue the children.

A few minutes after the children came out, the van caught fire and all the upholstery went up in flames.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Virudhunagar, led by its Station Fire Officer, V. Thangaraj, fought for more than 40 minutes to put out the flames.

Very recently, six women employees were killed when the jeep in which they were travelling caught fire after it fell off the road where garbage was being burnt in Sivakasi.