PCJ bus burnt to a shell along Bulawayo-Harare Road

A Botswana-bound PCJ bus was reduced to a shell when it caught fire at the 20km peg along Bulawayo-Harare Road yesterday morning.

No one was injured although passengers lost property worth thousands of dollars.

Acting Bulawayo chief fire officer, Edward Mpofu confirmed the  incident.

"We received a call about the incident at exactly 2AM and that is when we attended to the scene," he said.

"It seems no one in the bus knew the emergency numbers and when we went to the scene the goods in the bus were already burnt," he said.

When news crew visited the scene yesterday, the burnt out frame of the bus was on the roadside with no one around.  Mounds of ash from burnt goods were scattered all over.

Mpofu urged members of the public to utilise the emergency numbers 71717-9 or 993/4 in case of accidents or fire.

He urged motorists to have adequate and reliable fire extinguishers as a measure of reducing such incidents.

"Motorists should have adequate fire extinguishers to reduce cases of such incidents. Usually when such incidents occur, there is a sign before it happens and I therefore urge drivers not to take these signs for granted," said Mpofu.