Malta Public Transport said that it has launched an immediate investigation into the incident this afternoon where a bus caught fire in Burmarrad. A magisterial inquiry has also been ordered and is underway.

The incident happened at approximately 3pm when the bus was not in service and had no passengers on board.

In as statement Malta Public Transport said that “when the driver noticed something had happened, he parked the bus on the side of the road in line with practised safety norms.”

Officials from Malta Public Transport, Civil Protection Department and the Police were immediately on site to control the situation and the road was closed to traffic.

The bus was a refurbished Volvo Sarakakis, which was in use before the introduction of Arriva, the statement said.

“The other buses of this type have since been taken off the road for inspections and preventive checks to be carried out overnight.”

The driver was not injured but was treated for smoke inhalation and has since been discharged.

“It is very embarrassing for us to have to face a situation like this in the third week since we took over the service. At this stage we are doing everything necessary to understand exactly why this happened and what must be done to prevent similar incidents,” Malta Public Transport said.

“We strongly believe safety is critical to improving the credibility of our service and therefore it is our priority to address it.”

Photograph – Malta Police Force.

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