Tourist bus bursts into flames on Barcelona’s Avinguda Diagonal

A TOURIST bus in Barcelona burst into flames on the afternoon of Friday, October 10 in the middle of the Avinguda Diagonal, a busy main street in the city. The sudden fire on the bus, property of City Tour, caused a major scare to the passengers and witnesses, but no injuries were reported.

Tourist bus suddenly erupts into flames

Five terrestrial units of Barcelona firefighters were deployed to the scene, located in the Eixample neighbourhood in front of Casa de les Punxes, after emergency services received a call about the fire at approximately 5:00pm. The fire had started on the bus, which was at the intersection of Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer de Rosselló. As officials jumped into action, both streets, as well as the nearby Carrer Roger de Llúria, were blocked to traffic, according to the Barcelona City Council.

Passengers successfully evacuated, thanks to quick thinking

According to the on-duty intervention chief of the firefighters of Barcelona, Josep Gimeno, the driver noticed the commotion and immediately pulled over to make the passengers get off the bus. A young man reportedly climbed up to the top level of the bus to help other passengers get down.

The fire seems to have been concentrated on the back portion of the bus. Passengers were successfully evacuated from the scene with no injuries reported. However, the incident caused quite the scare on the double-decker bus, as some passengers on the top section of the touristic vehicle needed to jump to escape the flames.

Firefighters shortly extinguished the flames before they could reach nearby trees and the surrounding areas. Luckily, no emergency medical services were needed.

Investigations still ongoing

In total, the 112 emergency hotline received around 50 phone calls due to the incident. Investigations by the Barcelona municipal police are still ongoing as to the cause of the fire. The blockage of the streets affected several city bus lines that pass through the busy area, namely: bus lines 8, 6, 33, 34, 39, 47, and 114.

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