Sixteen escape fiery death after express bus bursts into flames on NSE

Firefighters working to extinguish the blaze. - Photo courtesy of Fire and Rescue Department, via Facebook.

IPOH: A total of 16 individuals had some anxious moments when an express bus they were on caught fire at KM242.3 of the North-South Expressway (NSE), northbound, at 12.01am on Sunday (April 21).

Fire and Rescue Department operations commander Senior Fire Officer II Mohd Fawwaz Abdul Jamil said his department deployed personnel and machinery from the Kuala Kangsar and Meru Raya Fire and Rescue Stations to the location after receiving a distress call at 12.01am.

"In the incident, the express bus was estimated to have been 80% razed.

"There were 16 victims inside, including the driver, who were safe and were transferred to another bus when the fire brigade arrived at the scene," he said in a statement via the department's Facebook page Sunday.

He said the fire brigade arrived at the location and brought the flames under control at 12.51am and completely extinguished it at 1.34am. - Bernama