This is what’s left of a Ceres passenger bus that caught fire along the highway in Brgy. Pitogo, Consolacion town in northern Cebu at 1:40 p.m., Saturday, January 30. | Photos from Paul Lauro #CDNDigital
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A passenger bus caught fire while traversing the highway on Barangay Pitogo, Consolacion town early Saturday afternoon, January 30.
Consolacion Police Station confirmed that they received a fire alarm past 1:40 p.m. involving a Ceres bus that came from Cebu City.
Police Corporal Ricky Pepito said firefighters were able to control the flames past 2 p.m. or a few minutes later. He said no individuals, including the driver, were injured due to the incident.
“The bus, at that time, had no passengers on board. It was only the driver,” said Pepito in Cebuano.
Based on initial investigations from the police, the bus, driven by a certain Eduardo Lopez Pelayo, just unloaded all of its remaining passengers within the vicinity of Barangay Pitogo shortly before the fire engulfed it.
It added that Pelayo was about to switch lanes and make a U-turn so he can go back ferrying passengers to Cebu City when he noticed smoke coming out of one of the bus’s air conditioning units.
“He actually saw small flames dancing around the air conditioner where the smoke is coming from. The bus had a fire extinguisher and he tried to put it out using it. But the flames just spread uncontrollably and that’s why he decided to leave it,” explained Pepito.
Authorities are still determining the root cause of the fire and the damage it has cost on the passenger bus.
Consolacion is a first-class municipality located approximately 20 kilometers north of Cebu City. /rcg