A school bus carrying 35 students was evacuated at Wathoda Chowk in Nagpur after smoke began emerging from the vehicle during heavy traffic around 9am on Thursday. All the children were brought out safely and no injuries or fire were reported, but the incident raised concerns about the mechanical condition of school buses operating on busy city roads.
The bus was transporting students from a CBSE school when smoke started billowing from its rear while it was stuck at the junction. Motorists and pedestrians rushed towards the vehicle as some feared that it had caught fire. The children were evacuated through the windows, according to the report.
Bus owner Vaibhav Sarve said there was no fire. He attributed the smoke to engine oil running out, which caused smoke to emerge from the silencer. The account was also consistent with the absence of a reported fire at the scene, although the incident triggered panic among commuters and those assisting with the evacuation.
Rajendra Uchake, chief fire officer of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, said the fire brigade had not received a call about the incident. Officials and the bus owner confirmed that none of the students was injured.
The episode occurred at Wathoda Chowk, a traffic junction where the bus was immobilised while carrying children during the morning commute. The location meant that motorists and pedestrians were close enough to intervene quickly, helping remove the students before the situation escalated.
The incident has put attention on the gap between a vehicle’s documented compliance and its condition during daily operations. Regional Transport Office officials said the bus had the required documents, including a valid fitness certificate. Transport records also showed that it held an educational permit allowing it to ferry schoolchildren.
A valid fitness certificate indicates that the vehicle had met the relevant inspection requirement, but the smoke incident has renewed questions about how school buses are maintained between formal checks. The available information does not establish whether the bus had a mechanical defect beyond the owner’s explanation involving engine oil, or whether any further inspection was ordered after the incident.
For parents and schools, the immediate issue was the safe evacuation of the children. For transport authorities, the episode places attention on the operational condition of vehicles that carry students through congested junctions, where a breakdown can quickly create panic and obstruct traffic.
The reported incident ended without fire, injury or a fire-brigade response. The bus’s fitness certificate and educational permit were reported to be valid, while the cause of the smoke was attributed by the owner to an engine-oil issue.
