A public transit bus filled with commuters caught fire on the eastbound Ville Marie expressway, a main highway that leads into Montreal's city centre, shortly before 3 p.m. today.
One woman who was on the bus said passengers had to climb out a window because the driver had pulled over on the right side of the highway, which was up against the railing.
"I was reading my book," Vivianne Fan told CBC News.
"We started smelling smoke and then people from the back of the bus started getting up because the seats were heating up. And so we told the bus driver and she moved the bus to the side of the highway."
Fan said passengers appeared calm and didn't realize the extent of the problem until they got off.
"When we got out, we saw from the back of the bus that it actually started to burn down," she said.
Quebec provincial police confirmed that all passengers on the 485 bus, which was headed toward Lionel-Groulx Metro station when it caught fire, were safely evacuated.
Firefighters were seen dousing water onto the scorched remains of the bus on a ramp leading off the highway.
Fan said she heard what sounded like a small explosion, which may have set off the fire.
Firefighters spray water on a public transit bus that caught fire Thursday on a Montreal highway. (Submitted by Reuben Bouza)
Transport Quebec closed one lane of the highway from the 20 East to the 720 East while authorities deal with the situation.
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