Bus catches fire, players have narrow escape

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 26

National-level football players of Haryana had a miraculous escape after their bus caught fire near Patran city in the wee hours today. The players along with their coaches and guardians were heading from Hisar in Haryana to Vaishno Devi and Amritsar for a trip when their bus caught fire near Lucky Dhaba on the Patran-Sangrur road.

The incident occurred around 1 am when 21 girl players, including three international players Nirmala, Renu and Mamta, and 24 others restarted their journey from the dhaba after having their dinner. They had just gone a few metres ahead when the front portion of the bus caught fire. Amid the panic, the coaches started getting the bus evacuated. However, as the smoke spread, it got difficult to get the players out of the door, following which a few of them had to be taken out from windows. Three of them sustained injuries and a dhaba worker who helped in dousing the fire with the help of a water pipe has also received stitches. The police also reached the spot and helped the injured. They also helped them in arranging new buses to proceed with their journey ahead.

The injured three were sent back to Hisar.