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Sikhs on motorway
inferno subjected to racist abuse
WSN Network
LONDON: A group
of Sikh women and children who escaped a burning bus on a British
highway last week were subjected to racist abuse by passing
motorists, the BBC reported.
Sixty-six women
and children who worship at a gurdwara in the town of Luton were
returning from a day out on the beaches of
Weymouth
in southern England on Friday when their coach caught fire on a
highway.
Helped by an
off-duty policeman, all the passengers were evacuated to safety
minutes before the double-decker coach exploded in a fireball,
melting the tarmac, eyewitnesses said.
"It all happened
in seconds. As we were backing away from the coach there was an
explosion, and then another one. It was horrific. The whole thing
went up in seconds," said one of the women in the coach, Inderjeet
Buar.
She said it was
amazing that no one was injured in the incident, which took place in
the evening.
"We had
organised a summer camp at our temple in
Luton
which was attended by many children. As part of the camp we
organised a day out to Weymouth and over 200 people came, travelling
on three coaches," the Dorset Echo quoted Buar as saying.
Another woman
travelling in the coach said the evacuees were subjected to racist
abuse by passing motorists as they stood on the hard shoulder of the
highway, wrapped in foil blankets and waiting for another coach to
collect them.
Inderjeet Kaur
told BBC Television News that some motorists stopped to look and
hurl racist abuse.
"They were
pointing saying 'go back to the burning bus', and sticking their
fingers out," she said.
It took 25
firefighters 90 minutes to put out the blaze, and a spokesman for
coach operators said an investigation would be carried out into the
cause of fire.
Spokesman
Christopher Nice said: "The quick thinking and professionalism shown
by our driver enabled all of the 66 passengers onboard to be
promptly evacuated from the vehicle and led to a safe location."
5
August 2009
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