Major bus fire on the Castlebar Road in Westport
Road was temporarily closed while the serious incident was dealt with
Michael Duffy and Neill O’Neill
THE main Castlebar Road out of Westport has been temporarily closed this afternoon (Wednesday) while the fire services and Gardaí deal with a serious incident. A 52-seater bus caught fire just off the forecourt of the Tip Top petrol station and the emergency services had to rush to the scene to deal with the blaze. The emergency services were very worried initially given the proximity of the inferno to the petrol pumps at the service station.
A large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the fire from Westport town itself but the fire services now appear to have the situation under control and the road is expected to open again this evening. Diversions are currently in place on the Derrygorman Road out of Westport and on the Doon Road for traffic approaching from Castlebar.
It was believed there was no passengers on board at the time when the bus went on fire and the driver, although shaken by the incident, was also unharmed.
The N5 road has now reopened to all traffic.