At least 10 people were injured when the panicked passengers hurriedly got off a moving bus of Shohagh Paribahan that suddenly caught fire in Rupganj of Narayanganj.
The incident took place at Karnagop area on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway Sunday afternoon.
The names of the injured passengers could not be known immediately.
Bus passengers and witnesses said that around 12:30pm, a Shohagh Paribahan bus carrying 40-42 passengers left from Kamalapur in the capital to Brahmanbaria. As the bus reached the Karnagop area of Rupganj on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, passengers were alarmed to see flames engulfing the vehicle, prompting screams of panic. The driver halted the bus on the roadside. Within moments, the entire bus was ablaze.
At least 10 people were injured while the terrified passengers rushed down through the windows and doors. Later, the fire brigade of the neighbouring SF Textile Mill brought the fire under control. However, by then most of the bus was burnt. The injured passengers returned home after receiving first aid at a local pharmacy.
Admin Faisal Bhuiyan of SF Textile described the incident, adding: “Our factory is located adjacent to the road. I noticed a bus engulfed in flames. Swiftly, I mobilized our factory's firefighting team, and we managed to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes.”
Confirming the information, Inspector (Investigation) of Rupganj police station Ataur Rahman said: “It is believed that the bus caught fire due to a mechanical fault. However, no casualty was reported in the incident.”
