New Delhi: A major accident was averted after a bus, parked barely metres away from an Air India aircraft, caught fire at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 on Monday afternoon. No passengers or staff were injured in the incident.
One among several such buses operated by SATS Airport Services Private Limited, a third-party provider that handles ground services for multiple airlines, was vacant when it caught fire near bay 32, airport officials said.
It was termed a “stray incident” by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which is in charge of operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
“In a stray incident, a bus operated by one of the ground handlers caught fire around noon today. Our expert ARFF team on the ground immediately swung into action and extinguished the fire within a couple of minutes. The bus was stationary and fully vacant at the time off the incident. There were no injuries/casualties. All operations continue to be normal. Safety of our passengers and staff remains paramount to us,” DIAL posted on X.
It was learnt that SATS is investigating the cause behind the fire. The police also confirmed that the bus was not carrying any passengers or luggage at that time.
“Only the driver was in the bus at the time of the incident but he escaped unhurt,” an official said.
The bus will be inspected by technical and forensics teams to find out the exact cause of the fire, the official added.
IGIA has three terminals and four runways, which can handle more than 100 million passengers annually.
Terminal 3 was inaugurated in 2010 and is one of the biggest terminals in the world that can serve up to 40 million passengers every year. It operates both international and domestic flights, with the lower tier serving as the arrivals area and the upper functioning as the departures area.