Budapest takes immediate action: full fleet inspection ordered after bus fires
An immediate investigation is required on fires that occurred on three buses of Budapest transport company BKV on successive days, Budapest’s mayor said on Thursday.
Gergely Karácsony said on Facebook that after Wednesday, two other buses caught fire on Thursday, but fortunately, nobody was injured on either day. “Our colleagues took action in a fast and professional manner,” he added.
Karácsony said that it had been unprecedented since 2022 that two buses caught fire on successive days, let alone three, and “this calls for an immediate investigation”.
“I have asked for an immediate report from the BKV management and instructed them to take all the necessary steps,” he added.
BKV announced that the company had ordered a full and immediate screening of all its buses with special regard to fire safety. They added that nobody had been harmed in the three recent fires and assured passengers that their buses were safe to use.
BKV said the recent fires had been “unique and random” occurrences and were “not connected to technical or operational deficiencies.”
The company said the urgent screening would cover the buses’ electrical and fuel systems, the engines, and the automatic fire extinguisher systems they are equipped with. They also noted that the buses’ engine compartments were isolated from the passenger area, which ensured that in case of a technical problem, passengers could quickly leave the bus.
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