A fire at a chicken shop near Phulwaria Chowk in Muzaffarpur injured four people, gutted a motorcycle and briefly blocked the Sahibganj-Motipur main road after a bus ran over a plastic bottle containing petrol on Wednesday, police and eyewitnesses said.
The incident occurred in the area under Rajepur police station when a customer carrying petrol reportedly stopped near the chicken shop. According to eyewitnesses cited in the report, the bottle accidentally fell onto the road. A bus travelling from Sahibganj to Muzaffarpur then ran over it, spilling petrol across the road.
The spilled fuel reached a nearby burning furnace and caught fire. The flames spread rapidly and engulfed a motorcycle parked close to the shop, reducing it to ashes. The fire also caused panic among people at the busy junction and left four people with burn injuries.
Two of the injured were identified as Ziaul Haq, 60, of Parsoni Nath, and Gaya Shah, 65, of Birahima. Both were given preliminary treatment before being referred to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital. Two other people, who suffered minor injuries, were treated at private hospitals, according to the report.
The incident also led to a road blockade. Local residents placed bamboo barricades on the Sahibganj-Motipur main road in protest, alleging that speeding vehicles frequently cause accidents at the junction. They demanded preventive measures to improve safety for people using the road and those operating businesses along it.
The blockade brought traffic movement on the route to a halt until police reached the spot. Rajepur station house officer Ravikant Kumar arrived with a police team and persuaded the protesters to clear the road. The response restored movement, although residents’ allegations about speeding and the safety conditions at the junction remain part of the concerns raised after the fire.
The incident highlights how roadside commercial activity, open flames and the transport of fuel in an unsecured plastic container can combine with moving traffic to create a rapidly escalating hazard. In this case, the fire began after the bottle fell onto a public road and was struck by a bus, with the fuel then reaching a nearby furnace.
Police have not yet established the exact sequence of events. “The exact sequence of events is being verified and an investigation is underway,” SHO Ravikant Kumar said. The investigation will determine how the petrol bottle reached the road, how the fire spread and the circumstances surrounding the injuries and property damage.
