United News of Bangladesh

A passenger bus, which was kept in police custody following an accident on September 3, caught fire near Karimpur Highway Police Station in Sadar upazila of Faridpur district on Friday night. The fire broke out around 10:30 pm in the bus parked in an open field in front of the police station along the Faridpur-Khulna highway. However, the exact cause of the fire could not be known yet, said Abdus Salam, Officer-in-Charge of Karimpur Highway Police Station. On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control, but most of the bus had already been damaged by the fire, he said. Sribas Barai, Senior Station Officer of Faridpur Fire Service and Civil Defence said the fire was brought under control around 11:10 pm after nearly 35 minutes of efforts. “The cause of the fire has not yet been determined,” he said, adding that several possibilities, including a burning coil, a cigarette, deliberate arson or another source, were being considered. The actual cause will be known after an investigation, he said. According to highway police, the supervisor of the bus was killed when the bus of ‘Purbaasha Paribahan’, rammed into the rear of a stationary flour-laden truck while heading towards Dhaka-Khulna highway at Mechardia intersection of Madhukhali upazila on September 3. Since then, the bus had been kept in the custody of Karimpur Highway Police.