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Bus bursts into flames on busy street

Watch: Firefighters tackled huge flames from the blazing bus on Saturday

A bus caught fire on a busy street in west London on Saturday afternoon.

Video footage from the scene in Twickenham shows firefighters battling huge flames and billowing black smoke in the middle of the street.

The 490 bus burst into flames at about 13:20 BST on Richmond Road, according to a Met Police spokesperson.

No one was hurt and the road has been closed for the rest of the day while investigations continue, the London Fire Brigade said.

Twitwardio bus in flames on streetTwitwardio
Passers-by watched as the bus burst into flames on the busy street
Twitwardio flames from bus on streetTwitwardio
Fire crews battled huge flames in the middle of the street
@sirpopythfatcat burnt-out bus@sirpopythfatcat
No one was injured, the London Fire Brigade said

It added five fire engines and about 30 firefighters attended the scene and it took over an hour to extinguish the fire.

"One diesel single decker bus was destroyed by the fire," said a spokesperson.

"All passengers and the driver left the bus before the brigade's arrival. There are no reports of any injuries.

"The road remains closed following the incident and people are advised to avoid the area for the rest of the day."

Massive plume of smoke

Eye-witness Samuel DeMarchi told the BBC: "I live very close to where the fire was and I was going out to run some errands.

"I looked up and saw a massive plume of smoke, and my neighbours and I went down an alleyway and saw the bus on fire.

"As far as I know, no one was hurt and everyone got off safely.

"There were definitely people on the bus, but they all got off the bus before something bad could happen."

The 490 route runs from Richmond Station to Heathrow Terminal 5.