Two buses parked in BEST's Pratiksha Nagar depot gutted in separate fire incidents; no one hurt

Two empty BEST buses were gutted in separate fire incidents at the Pratiksha Nagar depot in Mumbai's Sion area, with no reported injuries or casualties.

Two Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses were gutted in separate fire incidents at its Pratiksha Nagar depot in the metropolis' Sion area, though there were no reports of injuries to anyone as the vehicles were empty, an official said on Monday.

The incidents took place in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the official added.

The two CNG buses were hired from private operator Mateshwari Urban Transport.

The first bus caught fire at around 11:30pm on Sunday, while the second one was gutted in a blaze that started at 1:30am, the official said.

A security guard first noticed the flames emanating from one of the parked buses and attempted to locate a fire extinguisher, but could not access one due to the intensity of the blaze, a BEST spokesperson said.

''The Mumbai Fire Brigade was alerted, which doused the blaze within some time. The second bus caught fire at 1:30pm. The cause of the fire incidents is being probed,'' she added.

The spokesperson, however, did not give details of when the fire in the second bus was doused.

The fire in the first bus was brought under control shortly after midnight and fully extinguished around 12.30 am, while the second bus caught fire at 1.21 am and was brought under control after nearly an hour of firefighting efforts, sources said.

The BEST undertaking provides public bus services through its fleet of around 2,700 buses across Mumbai and parts of the neighbouring cities of Mira-Bhayander, Thane, and Navi Mumbai. Nearly 25 lakh passengers rely on BEST buses every day for their commute.

At present, BEST is facing a financial crisis and a shortage of buses, which has severely affected service frequency and increased waiting times for commuters.