Seized bus catches fire beside highway police station in Faridpur

A bus that was seized by the police caught fire beside the Karimpur Highway Police Station in Faridpur Sadar upazila on Friday night (September 18).

The fire broke out in an open field in front of the police station, beside the Faridpur-Khulna highway. Most of the bus was destroyed in the blaze.

Karimpur Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdus Salam said they received information about the fire at 10:27pm. Police went to the scene and found the bus engulfed in flames. The fire was later extinguished with the help of the Fire Service.

Faridpur Fire Service and Civil Defence Senior Station Officer Sribas Barai said firefighters reached the scene around 10:35pm after receiving the alert. The fire was brought under control at 11:10pm after about 35 minutes of effort.

However, the exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Sribas Barai said the fire could have started from a burning coil, a cigarette, an act of arson, or another cause. The actual cause will be established after an investigation, he added.

According to highway police sources, the bus, operated by Purabasha Paribahan, was involved in an accident on the Dhaka-Khulna highway near Mechardia Mor in Nawapara Union of Madhukhali upazila on the night of September 3.

The bus reportedly crashed into the rear of a truck loaded with flour sacks that was parked beside the highway. The bus supervisor was killed in the accident. The bus was subsequently kept Karimpur Highway Police Station as evidence.

OC Abdus Salam said the Karimpur Highway Police Station had been shifted to a new building several months ago, but construction and other infrastructure work at the new premises had not yet been fully completed.

Seized vehicles are kept in an open field in front of the station, adjacent to the highway, he said. The field has no boundary wall.

“If there had been a boundary wall, incidents like this could have been prevented,” Abdus Salam said.

He added that an investigation was underway to determine the exact cause of the fire.