Lewisham bus fire: CCTV of teenager released after £200,000 double-decker wrecked by 'arson'

Tom Marshall26 March 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Police are searching for a teenager after a £200,000 bus was engulfed in flames after a suspected arson attack.

The double-decker dramatically erupted into a fireball on a crowded street in Lewisham, south London, just after 6pm on Friday.

Detectives have now released a CCTV still of a hooded boy aged about 13 to 15 who they want to speak to about the incident.

Student Nicholas Vassiliades, 21, yesterday told the Standard he saw a woman “screaming and running away” as the flames took hold.

CCTV still: Police want to speak to this teenager
Metropolitan Police

He added: “There was a little bit of smoke coming out of the back of the bus, then all of a sudden it started to escalate, until the fire engulfed pretty much the whole back of the bus.

“You could hear the cracking of the glass and there were sparks flying off.

The bus on fire near Lewisham station 
Nicholas Vassiliades

“It went up very quickly. The whole bus went black and basically started to melt.”

The fire is believed to have started on the top deck of the bus and nobody was injured, police said.

Anyone with information should call DC Alex Price on 07917 837 086 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting reference number 3207078/16.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT