Incense stick likely cause of bus fire in Vikaspuri: Delhi Police

Police suspect that an ‘agarbatti’ (incense stick) might have sparked the fire in a private bus Vikaspuri area of Delhi, where a helper’s charred body was found inside the vehicle on Sunday.

Police on Monday said that the victim, Sunil (25), used to sleep in the bus at night and burn incense sticks to ward off mosquitoes.

Visuals of the incident showed the bus was severely damaged by the fire, its interior scorched and seat frames reduced to metal skeletons.

Police said that though an investigation into the incident is underway, it is suspected that the cause of the fire might have been an incense stick.

Sunil’s charred body was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital, where it has been kept for post-mortem.

Locals said the flames were massive and added that by the time fire officials arrived, the entire bus had been destroyed.

“Around 12:30 am (on Sunday), we saw that the bus was on fire. I had already called the fire brigade. By 12.45 am, when the fire brigade people came, they broke the windows. By then, the entire bus was engulfed in flames,” said Vijay, a resident of Priya Apartments.

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“We were told that the person sleeping inside the bus was a cleaner. The drivers of the bus were also called,” he added.

The bus, which was owned by Vijay Kumar, 46, carried a Haryana registration number. Locals were unsure whether it was a tourist or school bus, but said it had been parked by the roadside for some time.