FOURTEEN Moorabool school children were today rescued from a bus minutes before it caught fire.
The incident happened at 8am this morning when the Bacchus Marsh Coaches bus was travelling along the Bacchus Marsh-Gisborne Road near Coimadai.
The bus driver pulled over to the side of the road when she heard a noise at the back of the bus. The driver noticed some smoke outside the rear of the vehicle and immediately evacuated the students.
Five of the children on the bus were from Bacchus Marsh Grammar and the rest from other schools in the area.
Bacchus Marsh Coaches chief executive Peter McKenzie said they had been operating since 1980 without experiencing such an incident.
“This is a relatively new vehicle and our fleet is always maintained to the highest standards” Mr McKenzie said.
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