A burning bus at mile 60 on the Western Highway caught a lot of attention this morning. The eastbound Westline Bus was seen being consumed by torrid flames near Orange Gallery. It made for some dramatic picture, and here's what happened. First off, none of the 45 passengers was hurt. Manager of Westline, Usbaldo Castillo told 7News that the bus is a 5:00 am charter which runs from Benque to Santander in Valley of Peace. But at 5:45, nearing mile 60, the driver detected the scent of something burning. He pulled over and saw heavy smoke billowing form under the engine. He got all the passengers off the bus - and saw that a wire from the starter to the engine was on fire. From there most of the fire had spread to the engine and engine cover. He tried to contain the fire but wasn't able to - and it consumed the bus. The workers, 40 men and 5 women were transported on another bus.
Castillo tells us that the bus had just come out of the garage the night before where a new transmission was installed. It was taken for a test drive last night and deemed to be road worthy.
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