Allegedly Short Circuit, Medan-Jakarta Route Bus Burns On Bukittinggi Cross Road

One passenger bus unit bound for Jakarta-Medan caught fire on the Bukittinggi-Medan highway in Palupuah/ANTARA

BUKITTINGGI - One passenger bus unit caught fire on the Bukittinggi-Medan road, West Sumatra. This incident had stuck the connecting route between West Sumatra and North Sumatra. "The incident occurred in an ALS bus unit with a BK Nopol 7285 LD, precisely on Jalan Raya Bateh Rambang Palupuh kilometer. It is suspected that it was due to a short circuit in the car electricity," said Head of the Bukittinggi Police Traffic Unit AKP Ghanda Novidiningrat in Bukittinggi, Antara, Monday, March 13. He said there were no casualties from the bus fire and the loss value was estimated at IDR 1.75 billion. "There were no casualties, but all the passengers' belongings in the trunk of the car could not be saved," he said. He said the incident began with the strike of a bus driven by Saparuddin Lubis (45) who was about to go to Jakarta from Medan. "During the strike, the driver immediately went down to check out the engine in the back of the car. He admitted that he saw a fire that had spread," he said. The driver immediately reacted to telling all passengers to come down to save themselves so that everyone survived. The extinguishing process was assisted by firefighters from Bukittinggi City and Agam Regency. "There were 16 passengers on the bus, all survived plus four bus crew members including the driver," said Head of the Civil Service Police Unit and Agam Fire Department, Dandi Pribadi. "All passengers survived even though the goods could not be evacuated, the condition of the passengers was still traumatized and could not be asked about the condition of the bus before the fire broke out," he said.