Around 40 school students along with teachers on board a picnic bus had a narrow escape on Saturday when the vehicle caught fire at Baksha's Bogamati Ambarish Nagar. Eight students were severely injured in the incident.

The incident occurred around 9.30 am and the fire is suspected to have occurred due to an electrical short circuit.

The bus with registration no AS 25BC 0872  was carrying students of Routs's Serenga Foundation College to Bagamati.

Owing to the alertness of the bus driver, the students and the teachers were evacuated from the bus however eight students suffered major burn's .

The injured students and teachers were later taken to the nearest hospital.

According to information from sources, the driver of the bus noticed smoke emanating from exposed wires located in his cabin. He immediately brought the bus to a halt and asked all passengers to alight.

Police have initiated an inquiry into the incident and sought details from the regional transport office (RTO) on the fitness of the bus and an incident report from the fire department.