Bus catches fire in Savar at night, heat wakes sleeping driver

A bus parked in Savar, Dhaka, caught fire on Saturday night at around 10:30 pm in the Ulail area of the upazila. The bus was used to transport workers of a ready-made garment factory.

According to the bus driver and the Savar fire service, the bus had been parked near the u-turn on the Dhaka–Aricha highway in Ulail on Saturday night. At the time, the driver was asleep at the front section of the bus with a mosquito coil burning beside him.

He suddenly woke up due to the intense heat and upon seeing the fire at the rear of the bus, quickly got out. He then attempted to extinguish the fire using water. Two units of the fire service arrived after being informed and as the intensity of the fire had reduced, one unit successfully extinguished it.

The bus driver, Md Selim said, “I was sleeping at the front of the bus. When the heat from the fire at the rear woke me up, I got down from the bus. I collected water in a bucket and tried to put out the fire. Later, members of the fire service arrived and brought the fire under control.”

Md Selim added, “I was asleep. The heat from the fire woke me up. There was a mosquito coil burning at the front of the bus. The fire started at the back of the bus.”

Jahangir Alam, senior station officer of Savar fire service, told Prothom Alo that two fire service units rushed to the scene after receiving the news around 10:30 pm.

As the intensity of the fire had already reduced, one unit was able to extinguish it. Several seats at the rear of the bus were burnt and approximately 10 per cent of the bus was damaged. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.