Passenger Evacuated As Transjakarta Bus Catches Fire

Jakarta, April 8 (Antara) - A passenger on a Transjakarta bus heading to Pulogadung, East Jakarta, had to be evacuated when the bus caught fire on Guntur Road, Setiabudi, South Jakarta, on Tuesday. "Three fire trucks successfully extinguished the fire raging on the Transjakarta bus on Guntur Road," said South Jakarta Fire Department spokesperson Muchtar Zakaria here on Tuesday. Muchtar noted that an electrical short circuit in the engine was allegedly the cause of the fire. Sparks from the electrical short circuit might have spread to the bus` engine, resulting in a fire that burned the entire bus. "We expect that this was caused by an electrical short circuit, and there was also a gas leak, which caused the fire to spread quickly," Muchtar said. The passenger was immediately evacuated when the fire broke out, Muchtar added. "The burnt Transjakarta bus has been secured at the Setiabudi police precinct," he stated. The fire incident took place at 1:30 p.m., and the fire was finally put out at 2 p.m. "The fire extinguishing process actually took about 15 minutes, but due to the heavy traffic, we had difficulties reaching the scene. Fortunately, we managed to put out the fire," Muchtar remarked.