About 50 passengers had a miraculous escape when their bus caught fire after colliding with a stationary bike near Vadipatti in this distirct, police said today.
Police said the bus was completely destroyed in the fire laste last night, along with the belongings of the passengers when it was proceeding from Erode to Ervadi in Ramanathapuram district. No body was injured in the bus.
The bike riders, who were construction workers, were proceeding from Kodaikanal to Kanyakumari for their weekly holiday, when the front tyre of the bike burst and its riders Justin Raj and Pradeep fell down and were injured.
The Highway Patrol police rushed to the spot and rescued the injured riders and were pulling the the bike to one side. Police had also signalled the fast approaching bus to slow down. However as it was pitch dark the driver did not notice the police signal and had collided with the bike and dragged it.
The bike exploded in the impact and set ablaze the bus. The driver managed to stop the bus and asked the passengers to get down fast, leaving their belongings.
One of the passengers, Thiagarajan, lost six sovereigns of jewel as his belongings were charred in the fire,police said.
