New English headline: students ran into burning bus to carry others out

Twenty-five students from Ullern upper secondary school in Oslo had to leap from their russebus as it burst into flames on the E6 highway in Eidsvoll early on Saturday, May 16, Dagbladet reports.

The fire broke out near the engine just before 3 a.m., and attempts to extinguish it with fire extinguishers failed, the students told the newspaper on Wednesday.

Henrik Blomhoff Juell said the driver first alerted him to a fuel smell. He went to the back and saw flames at the engine. Within two minutes, the entire bus was ablaze, he said.

Passengers described the fire as explosive. Some initially thought the smoke machine was on, as the bus filled with smoke.

Three fire extinguishers proved useless, Sebastian Friis said, because the flames were too hot to approach at the engine.

Panic broke out, and the students said they had to carry people out. A head count mistakenly suggested one person was still inside, so Blomhoff Juell ran back into the burning bus. It was a counting error, he said, calling those three minutes brutal.

The E6 was closed in both directions due to thick smoke. Police operations leader Ronny Hellerud Samuelsen confirmed all were out safely.

The students praised the driver as a hero for stopping immediately and helping them evacuate. About 20 other russebusser and cars were stuck behind them, unable to pass due to fire risk.

The cause of the fire is unknown, and police have opened an investigation. The students said the bus had passed its EU inspection two days earlier and had just been serviced. “Something must have gone very wrong,” Blomhoff Juell said.