Belarus-made MAZ buses continue to burn in Russia
A bus on fire on a highway in the Perm region of Russia / vk.com / vk.com
MAZ buses continue to catch fire in Russia. This time the incident took place not in St. Petersburg but in the Perm region. According to 59.ru, the MAZ-107 bus was manufactured in 2013. It belongs to Avtotranskali, which is part of Uralkali. Employees of the company were traveling on the company bus when it suddenly caught fire. The driver stopped the vehicle and all passengers managed to get out. The bus was badly damaged by the fire.
In August 2023 Passazhiravtotrans stopped the operation of 137 MAZ buses in St. Petersburg "due to the presence of remarks that could potentially lead to fire". Before that there had been a number of fires. After one of these fires it was suggested that the cause could be unsuccessful import substitution at MAZ. After the necessary "improvements" made by specialists from Belarus, the buses were sent back on the roads.
In September, Aliaksandr Lukashenka blamed the Russians for MAZ buses regularly catching fire in St. Petersburg. He said they were poorly maintained. St. Petersburg disagreed.
MAZ buses also had issues in Belarus.
