Cape Town - Traffic was brought to a standstill on the N2 heading into Cape Town city centre on Thursday after a MyCiTi bus caught fire.
Pictures and videos of the fire showing the bus engulfed in flames on the N2 inbound before Borcherds Quarry Road were shared on WhatsApp groups.
Urban mobility Mayco member Rob Quintas said that the fire started at the back of the vehicle.
“A MyCiTi bus travelling along the N2 highway inbound had to pull over at the Borcherds Quarry off-ramp at around 7.50 this morning due to a fire that started at the back of the vehicle,” he explained.
The bus was travelling from Kuyasa in Khayelitsha to the Civic Centre station in the CBD.
Quintas confirmed that no injuries were reported as the passengers and driver who evacuated the bus were transferred to another bus.
The City is taking the incident in a serious light. According to Quintas, the company contracted to operate the N2 Express Service is now required to investigate and report on the cause of the fire, as well as measures to prevent similar incidents in future.
This includes a service report card of the fleet of buses operating the N2 Express service and the bus involved in the incident yesterday morning.
He said: “Thus, to summarise, the cause of the incident is unknown, and under investigation. The City will take further action once the above has been submitted for consideration.”
The City has also been informed that the insurer will deploy a specialist to assist with the investigation into the possible cause and measures to address these as a matter of urgency.
“The bus manufacturer, operator, and specialist will convene after the investigation to establish a process forward,” Quintas added.