Chennai: As many as 35 students had a narrow escape after a private college bus that had obtained the mandatory ‘fitness certificate’ just a week ago, caught fire on the Tambaram-Maduravoyal bypass on Wednesday evening. The students had to jump out of the vehicle to escape the blaze.
The bus (TN 21 AU 1723), belonging to Sri Venkateshwara college of technology, BHP Nagar, Vadakkal, Sriperumbudur, was heading towards Ennore when the incident happened at 4.45pm. When the bus reached Paranipudur near Mangadu, M Ebinesh, 22, of Ennore, who was behind the wheels, was unable to operate the accelerator pedal. However, he managed to move the bus towards the side of the road when he noticed smoke emanating from the engine.
Within seconds, he noticed a spark. He immediately raised an alarm and the students, who cried out in panic, managed to alight, carrying their bags. There were 15 girl students and 20 boys in the bus. They were moved to a safer spot when the entire bus caught fire.
The driver alerted the fire and rescue services at 5.15pm and firefighters from Tambaram and Maduravoyal reached the spot. They battled the flames for more than an hour. The students were accommodated on another bus.
Police registered a case of accidental fire and are investigating. Citing witnesses, police said the passengers had a narrow escape. Investigation revealed that the bus was issued a fitness certificate on May 5. “The driver told us that he was not able to operate the accelerator pedal. It was a narrow escape for the passengers, ”said S Selvan, station fire officer, Maduravoyal.