By Charles Etukuri
Hardly a week after the Government lifted the suspension on Link buses, one of it’s buses on Wednesday, May 18, caught fire while on its way to Kasese.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Police Spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said the fire was successfully put out by those who responded with fire extinguishers.
“Our officers at Natete Police Station on Wednesday evening registered and responded to a fire outbreak, which happened at about 10:00pm. The incident involved a motor vehicle registration No UBD 269A Scania belonging to Link Bus Services,” he said.
Owoyesigyire noted that the Police fire prevention and rescue services officers responded on time, but fortunately, the fire had been extinguished by other first responders using a nearby fire extinguisher, water and sand.
“It has been established that the bus was travelling from Kasese to Kampala. However, it caught fire at Wakaliga traffic. The exact cause of the fire has not been established, but preliminary investigations have attributed it to a short circuit in one of the headlamps. We did not register any injuries or deaths and neither did the passengers lose any of their items from the bus,” he said.
Owoyesigyire said the fire prevention and rescue services, however, noted that the bus had no fire extinguisher of its own.
“We advise all passengers and bus operators to have the fire extinguishers in place in case of a fire emergency,” he said.
The Link buses were suspended last early this month, May, after one of the buses plying the Kampala-Bundibugyo route caused an accident, killing 22 people and injuring several others.
The Government, however, lifted the suspension last week after a thorough investigation.
