Conductor dies as 4 buses catch fire in Bathinda

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 29

A conductor was burnt to death after four private buses caught fire under mysterious circumstances at the Bhagta Bhaika town bus stand last night.

The victim was asleep inside one of the buses when the fire broke out. The deceased has been identified as Gurdev Singh, conductor of a private bus company. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet.

As per information, two buses of New Malwa Bus Company, one of Jalal Bus Service and another of GBS Bus Service were charred in the incident. Of these, two were brand new and were slated to be put into service.

It is learnt the fire began in one of the buses around 11 pm and within minutes, it engulfed three others parked alongside. Timely intervention of local residents prevented the fire from spreading to several other buses parked at the bus stand at the time. Locals tried to douse the blaze before fire tenders arrived at the scene.

With Bhagta Bhai Ka town lacking own fire engine, precious time is lost during emergencies as fire tenders from Bathinda, Rampura and Jaito are pressed into service.

Phul DSP Satnam Singh said the victim belonged to Nabha in Patiala district and couldn’t escape in time from the bus. Three employees of a private transport company were guarding their two bus when the fire broke out. Two of them managed to get out in time. “We have summoned them to ascertain the sequence of events,” he said. The police have started a probe into this incident.

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