A double-decker bus normally used for carrying tourists around Norway caught fire while driving from the southern island of Hvaler north towards Oslo on Wednesday morning. The fire closed the E18 highway in both directions.
A spokesman for the company currently using the bus, in scheduled service for the bus line Timeekspresse, told state broadcaster NRK that its driver had noticed a “burning smell” and pulled over to the side of the highway at Mastemyr. There were only four passengers on board and both they and the driver got off the bus before it caught fire.
Emergency crews arrived at the scene quickly and the fire was extinguished by 9am. The cause of the fire, which also melted a nearby power line and caused it to fall down, was not immediately known. Traffic in the area was re-routed via the E6 highway and smaller roads.
newsinenglish.no staff
