A bus with no passengers was driving along Tsuen Wan Road back to the depot at 20 minutes past midnight yesterday, when the rear suddenly caught fire and started emitting smoke.
Oriental Daily reports that the bus driver, surnamed Tse, found the fire immediately, but couldn’t put it out quickly enough with the fire extinguisher.
After Tse called the police, firefighters arrived on the scene and had to employ chemical foam to douse the flames. As a result of the fire, traffic was delayed for about half an hour and caused queues of around one kilometre.
Tse was reported to have sustained minor injuries to his arm, and was taken to the hospital.
The blaze is suspected to have been caused by a failure of the bus’ rear engine, and initial investigations show no suspicious circumstances.
A KMB spokesperson confirmed yesterday that a double-decker 34M bus caught fire on its return back to the Lai Chi Kok depot. The bus in question was said to be 14 years old, and had passed safety checks in the past month.
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