School bus catches fire in Ras Al Khaimah
No injuries reported as mishap occurred after school hours
Ras Al Khaimah: A school caught fire minutes after the driver left the bus, police said on Thursday.
An official at Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence told Gulf News that the police operations room received a call at 2.30pm about the fire.
The driver had a miraculous escape as the vehicle burst into flames minutes after he left the bus.
The vehicle was parked outside the school when the incident happened, the official said.
Firefighters from Al Gail fire station rushed to the scene to control the blaze.
No one was injured in the incident, officials said.
A police patrol was at the scene and moved all the other buses away.
Half of the bus got gutted in the incident, official said.
“The cause of the fire is not yet known. The case was handed over to the forensic laboratory to determine how the fire started,” he said.
The Ministry of Education in a statement said that school bus caught fire after it hit a school boundary wall. No students were in the bus as the incident happened after school hours, the ministry said.
RAK Civil Defence urged motorists to carry a fire extinguisher in their vehicles and carry out regular maintenance to reduce the risk of fire.
The bus belonged to Al Najah school located in Adhan area in Ras Al Khaimah.