NTA bus burns on highway

-Authorities
Liberia’s National Transit Authority or NTA has reported the burning of one of its mass transit buses marked 5172 in Careysburg, Montserrado County, while travelling along the Monrovia-Kakata highway.

The NTA Board of Directors, Management and Staff said in a release that the incident happened on Friday, 29 April, but with no human casualty so far. A release issued in Monrovia details that all efforts of the bus crew using the bus fire extinguisher with the assistance of commuters and bystanders using dirt went in vain.

“While we seek to establish the cause of the incident, the Management of the National Transit Authority wishes to inform the public that information from our bus crew indicates that the fire started from the engine compartment of the bus,” the NTA said in a release.

But the institution says it remains grateful to the Almighty God and the collaboration between its bus crew and the commuters that there was no human casualty or loss of life. The NTA says it is working in collaboration with the Liberia National Police as investigation of the cause of the incident commences, and assured that the public of its relentless effort in dealing with the cause of the incident.

“We continue to increase the quality of work in our garage by prioritizing foreign and local trainings of our technical and operational staff. The bus in question was an Ashok Leyland Falcon bus procured by the government of Liberia in May 2012. Since 2012, the bus was in active operations until the incident,” the authorities said.

Before leaving the NTA compound on 29 April, authorities say routine repairs and maintenance service were performed on the bus and that it was qualified by the Technical Department for operations. The NTA has further indicated that it remains committed to providing affordable, convenient and reliable public transportation service for the people of Liberia.

“At the NTA, we see every challenge as an opportunity to improve where there are undetected problems. We believe in problem solving and will never lose focus of the mandate conferred on the NTA by providing affordable, effective and reliable public transportation for the people of Liberia,” the NTA said in conclusion.