Early morning fire guts Mayo bus

A private coach carrying between 50 and 60 members of a Mayo pipe band went on fire in the county early this morning.

A private coach carrying between 50 and 60 members of a Mayo pipe band went on fire in the county early this morning.

The bus was destroyed, but all the passengers managed to leave the burning vehicle unharmed.

The vehicle went on fire in Newport shortly before 3am. Mayo fire brigade received an emergency call at 3.15am and were at the scene within 20 minutes.

The bus was carrying members of the Achill pipe band who were travelling to Shannon airport for a flight to Cleveland in the United States.

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Mayo fire brigade chief fire officer Tony Shevlin, told ireland.comit was fortunate that nobody was injured as "the bus was completely gutted". However, it is reported that some passengers' luggage and passports were destroyed.

Most of the group transferred to another coach and went on to Shannon airport.

Gardaí are not treating the fire as suspicious.