The bus was moving from Srinagar towards Jammu when it suddenly went up in flames near Karol area of Ramban district.
Ramban: A bus carrying pilgrims of the Amarnath Yatra caught fire on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44) near Karol area of Ramban district on Thursday. However, all 47 occupants, including the driver and conductor, were safely evacuated.
Officials said that there was no loss of life or injury to any passenger in the incident. According to the officials, the sleeper bus bearing registration number RJ27PC-9921 carrying Amarnath pilgrims from Rajasthan was moving from Srinagar towards Jammu when it suddenly caught fire at Karol on NH-44.
As soon as the incident was reported, police, CRPF, Indian Army, SDRF, volunteers of Civil QRT Ramban and other emergency relief teams immediately reached the spot and started rescue and firefighting operations. As a result of timely action, all the passengers were safely evacuated from the bus, due to which no one was injured.
Deputy Commissioner Ramban Muhammad Ilyas Khan confirmed the incident and said that all 47 people on board the bus, including the driver and conductor, are safe. He said that according to initial reports, the fire broke out soon after one of the bus’s tyres burst.
He further said that the pilgrims are being sent to Jammu in another bus for their onward journey. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Traffic movement on the national highway remained affected for some time during the firefighting operation and is being restored by the authorities.
