City bus destroyed in toll road blaze

City bus destroyed in toll road blaze

JAKARTA (JP): A public bus was incinerated after its rear
right wheel went on fire on the Grogol-Cawang toll road right in
front of the Kartika Chandra Hotel in Central Jakarta on Sunday,
witnesses said.

No fatalities were reported in the incident.

Agus Purwanto, an employee with the Jakarta Towing Service,
said that when he arrived at the scene around 4:30 p.m., the fire
had already burned the tire and had started to engulf the whole
body of the bus.

"The bus driver and his assistant tried to put out the blaze
with the help of local residents, but failed," Agus told The
Jakarta Post.

The bus belonged to the Himpurna bus company and served the
route from Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta and Ciledug in West
Jakarta.

A local resident, identified as Syaiful, said the driver told
him that the bus was being taken to its repair shop in Ciledug
after the driver had found out that there was something wrong
with the brake pad on the rear right wheel.

"Unfortunately, the brake pad ignited a fire before the driver
got the opportunity of having it fixed," Syaiful said.

Syaiful stressed that when the bus stopped because of the
fire, none of the passengers were seen to alight from the bus.

"The driver said that he was not carrying any passengers and
that he took the toll road to get to Ciledug faster," he added.

Traffic police personnel at the fire scene confirmed the
witnesses' statement.

However, both the bus driver and his assistant were nowhere to
be found at the location.

"They left shortly before the police arrived. I think they
were afraid of (the police)," Syaiful said.

The bus was totally gutted by about one hour after it broke
out. But, there were still no fire engines to be seen at the
location.

The accident caused a traffic jam on the toll road and drew
attention from drivers on the other side of the road who slowed
down to see what was happening. (08)