Khanna: Up to 100 passengers, including women and children, narrowly escaped death on Sunday when an interstate sleeper bus erupted in flames on the Ludhiana-Delhi national highway.The vehicle was travelling from Ludhiana to Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh when a fire broke out near Bija village, just outside Khanna. An alert passenger in the rear berth raised the alarm as smoke filled the cabin, triggering widespread panic.The driver immediately pulled onto the highway shoulder while the conductor evacuated the occupants. Within minutes of the evacuation, intense flames completely engulfed the vehicle’s frame.“We heard the shout that the bus was on fire and rushed out immediately,” said passenger Prem Kumar, who was traveling with his daughter to visit his ailing mother. “Everyone survived, but all our luggage and personal belongings were completely destroyed.”Two fire engines from the regional department arrived shortly after the evacuation and suppressed the blaze.Khanna Sub-Divisional Magistrate Swati stated that preliminary assessments point to an electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire. Civil administration officials are currently compiling a full passenger manifest to coordinate emergency relief and alternative transit for the stranded travelers.A mechanical short circuit can reduce an entire long-distance sleeper bus to a skeletal frame within minutes.
