Collision results in two burned tourism buses

A huge fire broke out on the Amizade Bridge on Friday morning after two tourism buses crashed.

The 10 a.m. incident occurred when a small tourism bus crashed into the rear of a larger shuttle bus belonging to a casino operator.

According to the Public Security Police Force (PSP), the bigger bus’s driver said he was driving slowly on the bridge when the small bus hit from the back.

The six passengers on board the larger shuttle bus were immediately evacuated. Meanwhile, in the shuttle bus there was only the driver, a 56-year-old female local resident, who sustained light injuries and was sent to the hospital.

After the incident, the two buses began to let out smoke before eventually catching fire. The Fire Services Bureau was called to the scene but upon arrival found that the buses had already been “swallowed” by fierce flames.

The Fire Services Bureau (HB) opened three fire hoses, deployed 10 ambulances and 30 fire fighters. It took the fire fighters about 20 minutes to put out the fire.

The minibus was completely burned, with all its glass windows broken. The casino shuttle bus’s back seats were also burned.

Both vehicles had passed annual examinations and were considered safe to drive.

The inferno paralyzed traffic on the bridge as residents stopped to take pictures and film the incident. By 10:15 a.m. the heavy traffic has caused the authorities to place restrictions on accessing the bridge, which were not completely lifted until almost 1 p.m. on the same day.

Another two notable car crashes were reported last week. In one accident, eight people were injured after three vehicles collided in the evening near Oceanus at Jai Alai. JZ