‘Flame engulfed the bus right before our eyes’

"When we arrived in front of the market at approximately 2:30 a.m., a passenger behind us suddenly screamed, alerting everyone that the bus was engulfed in flames. The bus, right before our eyes, became a blazing inferno in a matter of minutes.”

Bus driver’s assistant Hasan, who later extinguished the flames on Monday, recounted the harrowing experience.

He said that all he could initially see was the rear seat of the bus ablaze. The fire rapidly spread, and it became evident that someone from behind had intentionally ignited it.

Despite the intensity of the flames, the bus only carried a small number of passengers, including school students. Amidst the chaos, a woman had slipped and fallen, but Hasan managed to quickly assist her to safety.

The bus of Tanjil Paribahan was set on fire by miscreants in Dhaka’s Gulistan area on Monday.

The incident took place in Gulistan’s Zero Point area, near the Awami League office, at around 2:23pm, said the Fire Service and Civil Defence media cell.

Two firefighting units from Siddique Bazar Fire Station managed to douse the blaze.

A witness, Nurul Islam, said: “I suddenly saw a bus stopping and the passengers frantically getting out of the vehicle. I tried to put out the fire, and then the fire service arrived.”

Meanwhile, just an hour after the incident, at least two on-duty traffic police sergeants were injured after a crude bomb exploded in the same area.

The incident took place near Paltan traffic police box at around 3:44pm.

One of the injured was identified as Sergeant Rezaul, and the identity of the other officer could not be known yet.

Both of them received primary medical treatment.