A semi-luxury bus was gutted by fire in Kilinochchi during the early hours of this morning.

The incident occurred in the Dharmapuram Police Division in Kilinochchi at around 1 a.m.

The driver and the conductor were not present at the time of the incident and some neighbors who arrived at the scene managed to douse the fire.

However, extensive damage had been caused by even that time.

The driver insisted that the bus could not have caught fire due to a mechanical failure and that he suspects arson as the cause of the fire.