By Alex Hickey
The Daily Post
North Wales, U.K. — The Express Motors bus burst into flames near Dolgellau shortly before 9am yesterday as it carried pupils to the town’s secondary school, Ysgol y Gader.
All eight pupils and the driver were safely evacuated after the fire started as the bus was waiting at temporary traffic lights on the A470 at road works near Ganllwyd.
That stretch of the A470 was shut as firefighters battled to put out the flames.
An eyewitness said: “An Express Motors bus was on fire and was totally gutted.
“I believe the bus was from Ysgol y Gader because a vehicle that came to pick up the pupils who were evacuated had the school name on the side. There were two fire engines and an ambulance.”
Another witness said a worker on the road spotted flames coming from the bus and raised the alarm.
The North Wales Fire And Rescue Service confirmed that it sent two pumps from Dolgellau and Barmouth, and the Welsh Ambulance Service also dispatched a vehicle as a precaution.
A spokeswoman for the school said: “I received a phone call at 9am from a parent and another one from Gwynedd Council shortly after, to say a bus carrying pupils had caught fire near the new roadworks at Ganllwyd.
“They were taken off the bus and led to the a roadside compound where they were kept safe. We then sent a school vehicle up to collect the pupils and they were in school by 9.30am. All were unharmed and all their parents have been informed.”
A spokesman for North Wales Fire And Rescue Service said: “We received reports of a large vehicle fire at 8.43am.
Two appliances attended and all occupants were evacuated from the vehicle.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Daily Post contacted Express Motors but they have not provided a comment so far.
A motorist who contacted the Daily Post said the blaze closed the A470 between Ganllwyd and Dolgellau. “People driving to Dolgellau and further south are being turned around and sent on a five-mile detour to Llanfachraeth,” he added.
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