A bus parked at the bus terminal in Noakhali’s Sadar upazila has caught fire. The incident took place at the Sonapur bus terminal in the upazila around 9:45 pm on Friday (December 12). Several seats inside the bus were burnt in the fire.

According to police and local sources, a bus of Subarna Super Fast Service Paribahan was parked on the road north of the Sonapur bus terminal. On Friday evening, the driver and the driver’s assistant parked the bus and closed the doors and windows and went out. While passing by the road around 9:45 pm, passengers riding a CNG-powered auto-rickshaw saw the bus on fire. Later, locals brought the fire under control with water. Several seats of the bus were burnt. Locals believe that the fire in the bus started due to a cigarette.

Sudharam Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Touhidul Islam said, “4-5 seats inside the bus were burnt in the fire. The bus driver’s assistants lit mosquito coils to sleep inside the bus and went outside to eat food. Initial speculation is that the mosquito coils caught fire in the bus at that time.”