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)