Pietermaritzburg ( Curry’s Post ) N3 North Bound Between Lions River and Nottingham Road.

Sixty Eight commuters along with two bus crew have been stranded this afternoon after the bus they were travelling in caught alight.

ER24 along with other emergency personnel received a call saying that a bus was on fire and was uncertain if there were any injuries. Paramedics rushed to the scene to find a fully engulfed bus in the emergency lane. All the commuters had been evacuated and were standing a few meters up the freeway away from the fire. They were assessed and found that no was hurt in the incident.

The freeway was closed to traffic travelling north while Fire Department tired to extinguish the fire. The commuters had lost everything including two tourists from the United States as their passports and airplane tickets were all in the luggage compartment of the bus. Commuters were given some refreshments that ER24 had bought for them until further assistants had arrived

It is unclear what caused the bus to catch alight but it is believed that the bus may have had a mechanical problem causing the bus to catch a light. A second bus was sent to fetch the stranded commuters but broke down 1km after picking them up from the scene.