THE SCENT OF burnt rubber permeated the air and a huge crowd gathered to see the shell of the bus just outside the Barbados Museum, The Garrison after fire gutted it this evening.
The fire-ravaged body of the bus stood dark and dismal in the setting sun; a reminder of what once was a Marco Polo bus.
Driver William Taylor told a NATION ONLINE team what occurred when he was interviewed at the scene of the incident.
“As I was coming around the Garrison I began to smell burnt rubber. I came up to the bus stop outside the stables and got off the bus to investigate. I opened the engine bay and didn’t see anything so I walked around the bus and realised smoke was coming from the right rear tyre,” he said.
Adding that he quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher housed on the bus and asked the 11 passengers to disembark, he related how he sprang into action.
“I used the extinguisher to try to reduce the smoke. Another bus was passing and the driver tried to help with his extinguisher, but that didn’t help as the bus burnt from the underneath up . . . .
“We quickly moved away from the bus and headed further up the street because there is a tank on the other side of the bus and I did not know if there was going to be an explosion or not,” he said. (RA)
