Children flee burning school bus on the Gold Coast as driver is hailed a hero
School children have run from a burning bus on the Gold Coast moments before it burst into flames.
Investigators suspect a mechanical fault was to blame and have praised the quick-thinking bus driver for saving all 35 of his young passengers.
Flames poured from the back of the vehicle where just minutes earlier children had been making their way to school.
Witnesses first noticed the flames as the bus was pulling into the carpark at Arundel State School.
Smoke was already billowing when the bus driver jumped into action.
“There kids were running, they were running so fast," witness Mark Williams said.
Firefighters paid tribute to the drivers efforts to remove all 35 children from the bus before any where hurt.
A maintenance worker tried to fight the flames with an extinguisher but the blaze was out of control and exploding from the diesel engine.
Early investigations suggest a mechanical fault was to blame.
It is the third Surfside Bus to catch fire on the Gold Coast in two years.
In a statement, the company defended its maintenance regime, which it described as rigorous and compliant with state and federal laws.
It also praised the driver.
