About five omnibuses parked at Koyambedu Omni bus terminus in Chennai caught fire on Sunday afternoon. While no injuries or fatalities were reported, three vehicles have been completely charred in the accident. Thick dark smoke emanated from the spot and engulfed the area on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking to TNM, a fire service personnel who was pressed to action at the spot shares that the incident was reported around noon. “About five water tankers were used to douse the fire. The whole operation lasted for about 45 minutes to an hour,” he says. Fire engines from Koyambedu, JJ Nagar and Ambattur areas were brought and deployed at the site of the accident.

The omnibus terminus had about 50 vehicles parked. Since the lockdown, that began on March 22, inter-district and inter-state travel has been prohibited in Tamil Nadu with some relaxations being implemented only in the last month. This has meant that several private bus service providers have been unable to use their vehicles in a long time.

However, fire service personnel tell TNM that parked unused vehicles do not catch fire on their own. “That is not probable. Even if a rodent had chewed through wires, only when they attempt to start the vehicle can it lead to some accident. CMBT police are investigating to find out what could have caused the fire,” he adds. According to reports, precautionary measures are being taken to avoid a repeat of such a fire accident in the terminus in the future.

In April this year, a minor fire broke out on the fifth floor of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) building in Chennai’s Parrys Corner damaging documents and electric appliances in the office. In February, a chemical godown in Chennai’s Madhavaram blew up, causing a massive fire mishap that fire service personnel fought for over 24 hours.

(This is a developing story)