For the 28 passengers who set out from Malappuram to Gavi, this is truly a New Year of their lives. After escaping from a bus that caught fire while it was moving, they went on to celebrate their escape in Gavi.

The fire and smoke started coming out at 4 am on Wednesday from the deluxe bus, which was on a leisure trip from Malappuram to Gavi as part of the KSRTC Budget Tourism program. Shortly after the passengers were evacuated, the bus was completely destroyed. The incident took place at Kunnathupuzha in Pazhayidom, Cheruvally, on the Punalur–Muvattupuzha state highway.

It was the conductor, Biju Mon, who first noticed smoke rising from the rear of the bus. He then informed the driver, Jishad Rahman, and they stopped the bus on the side of the road. The fire started near the rear left tire.

The passengers were immediately evacuated from the bus. Within half an hour, the bus, which had departed from Malappuram at 9 pm on Tuesday, was completely destroyed by the fire. The passengers were transferred to another bus brought from Ponkunnam and continued their journey to Gavi. The preliminary conclusion is that a short circuit underneath the bus or a fault in the brake liner may have caused the accident.

"I don't usually sleep during night journeys. That's why I noticed the smoke rising from the rear of the bus. I immediately informed the driver, Jishad Rahman. I got out and checked. At that time, the driver of another vehicle that arrived also said that a fire was spreading underneath the bus. Following this, we woke up the sleeping passengers and got them out," said P K Biju Mon, the bus conductor.