Times Of Swaziland: OVER 30 ESCAPE DEATH  AS BUS CATCHES FIRE

OVER 30 ESCAPE DEATH  AS BUS CATCHES FIRE
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BY KHULEKANI NENE on 21/10/2013 03:59:00


HLANE – About 30 passengers, who were on board a Peters bus, were lucky to
escape unhurt when the bus they had boarded mysteriously caught fire before
burning to ashes.
They were travelling from Manzini to Lomahasha on Saturday morning.
The police confirmed that all the passengers on board including the driver and
the bus conductors escaped unhurt despite the bus being completely burnt by the
mysterious fire.
The cause of the fire has not yet been established but sources alleged that the
fire might have been caused by a mechanical fault.
“About five kilometres before the incident the driver hinted to the conductors
that the bus was experiencing some mechanical problems, hence he suggested that
passengers should get out of the bus. He then stopped the bus and while everyone
was moving out, the fire started,” a source said.
Asked to state the number of passengers on board, the source could not be
precise but estimated that there were about 30 adding that most of the
passengers were going to Lomahasha.
Attempts to get a comment from the driver and the bus conductors proved futile
as when the Times team arrived at the accident scène, they had already left.
Sources said soon after recording statements with the police, the driver
together with the bus conductors held a brief caucus at the Simunye bus
terminus. “They were standing over there for the past hour but they have since
left,” said a bus conductor who was found at the terminus.
Meanwhile, Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Superintendent Wendy Hleta
confirmed the matter saying that the police had already launched an
investigation into the matter.
“We are still to determine the actual cause of the fire, but we can confirm
that there were no casualties,” she said briefly.