Meerut, June 27 -- Twenty-six passengers had a narrow escape after a Rajasthan Roadways double-decker air-conditioned bus travelling from Jaipur to Haridwar caught fire on the Delhi-Dehradun Highway in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district on Friday morning. The passengers managed to save themselves by jumping out through the bus doors and windows. The incident occurred at around 7 am near the Dadri flyover under the Daurala police station area. Locals attempted to douse the flames before firefighters arrived. According to police, the bus was carrying 26 passengers when a motorcyclist travelling behind the vehicle noticed smoke in its rear portion. He overtook the bus and alerted the driver, prompting him to immediately pull over on the roadside. All passengers were evacuated safely before the fire spread rapidly through the vehicle. Within 20 to 25 minutes, the bus was completely gutted. Bus driver Rajendra Kumar, a resident of Surya Nagar Colony in Jaipur, said he had left Jaipur at around 10 pm on Thursday and the bus was bound for Haridwar. Rajendra said the bus had reached near the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar border at around 7:10 am when smoke suddenly began rising from the rear portion of the vehicle due to an alleged short circuit. Around the same time, the motorcyclist also warned him about the smoke. "I immediately stopped the bus after coming down from the flyover and asked the conductor to evacuate the passengers. The passengers quickly got out through the doors and windows. Once everyone had safely disembarked, I removed their luggage from the rear storage compartment," the driver said. He added that within moments the fire spread across the bus, leaving little opportunity to save the vehicle. The crew immediately informed the fire brigade and police. However, despite reaching the scene approximately 20 to 25 minutes later, firefighters found the bus almost entirely destroyed. Chief Fire Officer Surendra Singh said the department received information about the incident in the morning and dispatched fire tenders at around 7:30 am. Since the fire broke out near the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar border, firefighting units from multiple locations were mobilised. "The fire was brought under control within one-and-a-half to two hours," Singh said....