By Imogen Crispe
Passengers and children only just escaped in time from a bus which caught fire outside a Hamilton school this afternoon.
Tutor Andy Peck was nearby and says he was worried about children waiting nearby who had just finished school.
“Kids were being picked up from school, some were waiting at the bus stop.”
He says the Go Bus had stopped at a bus stop near Southwell School on Peach Grove Rd when someone standing nearby noticed a spark at the back of the bus and told the bus driver.
The bus driver quickly evacuated all the passengers and told everyone to move far away from it.
Five minutes later he saw two big explosions from the back of the bus.
“The bus driver did a pretty good job to be honest, moving people away,” Mr Peck says.
He says it was lucky no one was hurt.
“The road is extremely busy, it’s one of the busiest roads.”
Mr Peck says the fire burned for about 15 minutes.
“The whole back of the bus is completely destroyed.”
Northern Fire Service shift commander Scott Osmond says the fire service was called to the scene about 4.30pm and no one was hurt.
He says it was a straight forward fire and thought it was probably caused by a mechanical fault.
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