Two passenger buses caught fire in Karwan Bazar and Kurmitola areas of the capital yesterday afternoon. A bus of ‘Trust Paribahan’ caught fire in front of the CA Bhaban in Karwan Bazar area at around 3pm that was heading towards Shahbagh, while a double-decker bus of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) caught fire on Airport Road near Kurmitola Hospital at around 4:00pm, said Fire Service Control Room’s Officer Lima Khanam.

Three fire fighting units doused the flames after an hour of efforts at the bus in Karwan Bazar, while two units doused the BRTC bus fire on the Airport Road, according to Khanam. No causalities were reported so far, she said before adding it was not yet clear how the buses caught fire.

In Karwan Bazar, traffic was halted on both sides of the busy street after the incident. Witnesses said the driver and passengers quickly got off the bus after seeing smoke in the bus engine. Shortly afterwards the bus caught fire. Dhaka Cantonment police officer-in-charge Kazi Shan Haque said overheating caused the BRTC bus engine to catch the fire.

“Its driver, however, managed to evacuate the passengers before the incident. The damaged buses were removed from the roads. Vehicular movement is normal now,” he added.

SHK