Narrow escape for 21 passengers as bus catches fire in Thane

As many as 21 pilgrims returning to Mumbai from Shirdi had a narrow escape after their bus caught fire here on Tuesday evening, a civic official said.

The private luxury bus, on way to suburban Borivili, went up in flames on the highway near Jupiter Hospital in the city, but nobody suffered any injuries, said Santosh Kadam, chief of the Thane Municipal Corporation's Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC).

On getting message about the incident, firemen, traffic police and RDMC personnel rushed to the spot and put out the flames, he said.

All the 21 passengers, returning from the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, were evacuated safely from the bus which was gutted, Kadam said.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, the official added.