Students from the University of Connecticut lost their trust in the bus company after the bus that was to take them to Boston Harbor for a luncheon cruise burned on Saturday afternoon on the Interstate 85 turnpike.

As early as 15 minutes into the journey, smoke came out of the bus, but the driver kept on going. However, when the situation became worse, the driver pulled over and called the bus company, which ordered him to return to the bus and bring the 52 students on board to the next rest stop, narrated UConn senior student Ashley Volimer.

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However, before the bus reached the toll to enter the Massachusetts Pike, there was a loud bang. Volimer noted that the driver laughed upon hearing the noise but kept on driving the bus.

But when the smoke became thicker, it prompted the driver to pull over. The students immediately left the bus. No one was injured and all students from that bus were safe, reports CBS.

While the bus was burning, some of the students took out their mobile phones and filmed the blaze.

"They sent us another bus from the same company to take us back to campus and no one wanted to get back on it because we just don't feel safe with them," Volimer recounted, quotes WCVB.

Besides the smoke incident, the bus had brake problems, but the driver ignored all those mechanical issues, said another UConn student, Faris Jadadic, who pointed out, "If we kept driving for another 30 seconds, we would have been in deep trouble.

The university sent its bus that picked up the 52 students and transported them back to the campus. Their bus driver hitched on one of the three other buses on the way to Boston Harbor, Volimer said.

Stephanie Reitz, spokeswoman of the university, said that probers are coordinating with the bus company to find the cause of the blaze, which razed even the grass underneath the bus. Nothing was left of the bus except a charred shell, CBS noted.

The fire, which happened on the on-ramp from Interstate 84 onto Interstate 90 eastbound in Sturbridge, closed two lanes, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

TagsUniversity of Connecticut, Massachusetts