Moving Bus Catches Fire on Pune–Ahilyanagar Highway; 50 Passengers Escape Unhurt
Shirur, 14th March 2026: Panic spread on the Pune–Ahilyanagar road on Friday night after a moving private bus caught fire near the Mahaganpati Temple at Ranjangaon Ganpati in Shirur taluka around 8.30 pm. However, the alertness of the bus driver helped avert a major tragedy as he immediately pulled the vehicle off the road and safely evacuated all passengers.
The bus was completely gutted in the fire.
According to officials, the private luxury bus belonging to Sanjay Travels of Nagpur (MH 40 CT 0957) had left Pune for Nagpur with around 50 passengers on board. As the bus was passing in front of the Ranjangaon Ganpati temple, the driver noticed smoke coming from the front portion of the vehicle.
Sensing danger, he drove the bus off the road and opened the front engine grille to check. Within moments, thick smoke and flames began emerging from the engine compartment. Acting quickly, the driver instructed all passengers to get down from the bus.
Even as passengers were evacuating, the bus caught fire from the front side. The driver and his helper tried to control the flames by pouring water, but the engine had already overheated and the fire rapidly intensified.
The flames soon spread inside the bus. Seats, window curtains and rexine interiors caught fire within seconds, engulfing the entire vehicle in flames.
All passengers had managed to get down with their belongings, though two passengers reportedly left their bags inside the bus, which were destroyed in the fire.
After receiving information about the incident, Police Inspector Mahadev Waghmode of Ranjangaon MIDC police station rushed to the spot along with a police team. Firefighters from the Ranjangaon MIDC fire station were called in, and the blaze was eventually brought under control with the help of fire tenders.
During the fire, loud explosions were heard as the bus tyres and the diesel tank began bursting, creating panic in the area. Police temporarily halted traffic on the highway as a precaution.
A large crowd of onlookers gathered at the spot, many recording videos of the incident, which further hampered traffic movement.
Traffic on the Pune–Ahilyanagar road remained disrupted for more than two hours due to the burning bus parked on the roadside and repeated tyre explosions.
Even after the fire was extinguished, vehicular movement continued to be affected for a long time. Police and traffic personnel regulated traffic at key junctions including Ranjangaon, Karegaon, Yash Inn Chowk and Rajmudra Chowk to restore normal movement.
However, traffic congestion was reported at several locations on the highway till late at night.
