Stagecoach has launched an investigation after a double decker bus was completely destroyed in a fire near Crathes.
Fire crews were called to an incident on the A93 Aberdeen to Banchory road at about 8.30am today.
Three passengers were on board the bus when the driver noticed smoke coming out from one side of the vehicle.
All passengers were evacuated immediately and nobody was injured.
Images from the scene show the smouldering remains of the torched bus, with little more than the steel skeleton of the vehicle left.
Two appliances – one from Banchory and one from Aberdeen – attended the incident, with crews using two breathing apparatuses and a main hose-jet to tackle the flames.
A spokeswoman for the fire service said: “We were called to an incident on the A93 Aberdeen to Banchory road in the Crathes area at 8.24am.
“A double decker bus had caught fire. Two fire appliances were sent to the scene – one from Banchory and one from our station on North Anderson Drive.
“Crews used two breathing apparatuses and a main jet.”
Fire not treated as suspicious
The A93 was closed to traffic from the Crathes Castle junction to the Tesco Superstore in Banchory.
The fire was extinguished at about 9.45am, however, firefighters remained at the scene for an extra hour to dampen the vehicle and ensure the blaze doesn’t reignite.
A team from the road department was called to assist after the large amount of spilled fuel on the road was deemed to pose a safety hazard for drivers.
A police spokeswoman said: “Around 8.30am on Friday, April 14, officers were called to a report of a bus on fire on the A93 at Crathes.
“The fire was extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. There were no reports of anyone injured.
“The fire is not being treated as suspicious.”
Bus services diverted
Stagecoach has now launched an investigation to establish the cause of the incident.
The company announced service 201 will be diverted and will not stop at Drumoak and Crathes until further notice.
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach Bluebird said: “The fire service attended an incident involving one of our vehicles this morning on the A93 at Crathes.
“On detecting smoke ,the driver immediately stopped and evacuated the vehicle, which was carrying 3 passengers at the time.
“There were no injuries as a result of the incident. Safety is our absolute priority, and we will carry out a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident.”
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