44 students and bus driver escape unhurt after bus catches fire in Gerik

Forty-four students and a bus driver escaped unhurt when the tour bus they were travelling in caught fire at KM39.5 of Jalan Gerik near Tasik Banding here today.

A Perak Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said a fire engine and personnel were rushed to the location after receiving an emergency call at 2.05 pm.

"When the team arrived, the fire was at its peak and it had destroyed 80 per cent of the tour bus.

"However, all passengers including the bus driver escaped unhurt as they managed to exit from the bus before the fire spread," he said, adding that the operation ended at 3.48 pm.

The bus was believed to be heading from Kelantan to the Changlun Matriculation College in Kedah to send the students back to campus.

-- BERNAMA