1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186 
Outing ends in flames
Page 62
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Last Saturday, a coach belonging to Shearings Holidays Ltd carrying a party of elderly passengers to Torquay, burst into flames at the top of Telegraph Hill, in Devon.
The driver of a following car, Mr T. Harwood, of London, told CM: "At first, there were a few sparks, but within four minutes the coach was a raging inferno with flames leaping 25ft."
The coach was a Bedford VAL70 with a 1969 Plaxton Panorama Elite body which cost £8,500 last year.
According to the driver, the fire started at the exhaust manifold. Mr A. Baines, the company's transport manager, said on Monday that they were unable to state the actual cause of the fire until the wreckage had been thoroughly examined.
The eye-witness said that although the regulation-type fire extinguisher was brought into use immediately, it proved ineffectual.
None of the passengers was injured but Mr Harwood said that the elderly people appeared to experience difficulty in using the emergency exits.