India, Oct. 6 -- At least 10 buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking were gutted in a fire at the Anik bus depot on Monday evening. A majority of the gutted buses were a month or two old and had been inducted into the fleet by a wet lease operator recently, officials said.

Though the reasons and chain of events leading to the incident are under probe, sources in the BEST said that the fire may have been sparked by a half-burnt cigarette butt, thrown by people who may have been smoking inside the depot.

"When we reached the spot, we found empty cartons, a stack of papers and some other material lying around the buses which were on fire. Chances of external factors leading to this fire cannot be ruled ou...