Forty-four passengers travelling in a private luxury bus had a narrow escape after the vehicle caught fire on the Mumbai-Goa highway in Maharashtra’s Raigad district in the early hours of Sunday (24 August 2025), police said.
The incident took place near the Kashedi tunnel in Poladpur around 2 am, an official confirmed.
According to police, the driver’s alertness helped prevent a major tragedy. The bus, carrying passengers from Mumbai to Malvan in Sindhudurg district, suffered a tyre burst before entering the Kashedi tunnel. The driver quickly applied the emergency brakes and instructed all passengers to alight.
By the time they got down, the fire had spread to other parts of the vehicle. Police and fire brigade teams rushed to the spot soon after being alerted. Traffic movement on both sides of the highway was stopped as a precaution.
During the blaze, a blast occurred in the diesel tank of the bus, but by then, all passengers had moved to a safe distance and no injuries were reported.
The fire was brought under control by 3 am, following which traffic on the highway resumed.
A case has been registered at Poladpur Police Station, and an investigation is underway into the cause of the incident, police added.
(With PTI Inputs)
