Chiang Mai - At least two passengers were grievously injured on Tuesday when an explosion occurred in a public bus near Rangoon's popular Hledan junction, an eyewitness said.

The explosion took place at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday and severely injured the handyman of the bus and an old man, an eyewitness, who talked to Mizzima over telephone said.
 
An explosion took place on a public commuter bus in Rangoon caused two people
"When I arrived at the spot, the bus was on fire and most of it had been charred. The handyman of the bus was severely injured. Blood was all over his legs," the eyewitness said.

Minutes later, a fire brigade truck from the Sanchuang Township arrived on the spot and doused the fire, the Sanchaung fire department told Mizzima.

"We don't know how it happened. We rushed to the spot as soon as we were informed and put out the fire. Details of how the explosion occurred can only be explained by our senior officers," a fire fighter at the Sanchuang fire department said.

According to the eyewitness, who claimed to have spoken to one of the passengers on the bus, there were only three passengers beside the driver and the handyman. The bus was plying on the Sule-Insein route no 45, when the blast occurred.

"I talked to a school teacher who was on the bus and she said 'the bus was stopping at a traffic point, when suddenly I heard an explosion in the rear. I then ran out of the bus to escape not knowing what it was,' "the eyewitness said quoting her.

With all the people from the bus taken away in a taxi by authorities, it was not immediately possible to confirm the cause of the explosion.

The eyewitness, however, said the explosion could have occurred in the gas tank of the bus. The bus had just returned from a workshop after repairs.

The bus, according to him, was heading towards Insein Township after repairs at a workshop, and was unable to pick up many passengers as is normally done.

The Kamayut Township police station, under whose jurisdiction the explosion site falls, was not immediately reachable for comments.

An official at the Rangoon general hospital in Latha Township, confirmed that two patients in need of emergency operations had just arrived at the hospital, but she declined to provide further details.

Authorities in Rangoon, as of 2004, had ordered public commuter buses to change from the old petrol run engines to Compressed Natural Gas propelled engines.