Bus goes up in flames in Agargaon

A fire has burnt down an air-conditioned bus at the Agargaon crossing in Dhaka. The staff bus belonging to Palmal Group caught fire around 7:30 am on Thursday, according to Fire Service Duty Officer Khalid Bin Rashid. "A single firefighting unit went to the scene and doused the flames." No casualties were reported in the incident.

Bus driver Delwar Hossain said he saw smoke billowing out of the engine compartment after stopping at the Agargaon traffic signal. Delwar subsequently discovered the flames in the engine box and quickly got off the bus, he said.

Only the driver and his aide were on the bus at the time. The Tata Ultra air-conditioned bus was used to ferry staff members of the readymade garment factory, said Delwar.

The link road stretching from the Prime Minister's Office to the Agargaon intersection was closed to traffic after the bus caught fire. This caused inconvenience to office-goers and school-bound children in the morning.