Jammu: A bus carrying pilgrims of the Amarnath yatra caught fire on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district on Thursday, prompting a swift rescue operation in which all 47 occupants were evacuated safely, officials said.
The sleeper bus carrying pilgrims from Rajasthan was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar, after the devotees had paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine, when it caught fire near Karool on the highway, they said.
Officials said the passengers noticed smoke after one of the bus tyres reportedly burst and quickly disembarked before the vehicle was engulfed in flames.
Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Army personnel, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services and volunteers of the Civil Quick Response Team (QRT) rushed to the spot and launched rescue and firefighting operations.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan said all 47 occupants, including the driver and conductor, escaped unhurt.
“The pilgrims were safely evacuated and are being shifted to another bus for their onward journey to Jammu,” the deputy commissioner said.
The blaze completely destroyed the bus, officials said, adding that the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, though preliminary information suggested it broke out after a tyre burst.
Traffic on the strategic Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained affected for a brief period during the firefighting operation before normal movement was restored, they added.