Updated - Ministry, Transport Malta, tell Arriva to withdraw all bendy buses

Updated 2.46 p.m. The Transport Ministry and Transport Malta have instructed Arriva Malta to take bendy buses off the road pending investigations. The decision was taken at an urgent meeting between officials from the ministry, Transport Malta and Arriva after a third bendy bus burst into flames in Xemxija this afternoon, the third such case in as many days.  Arriva immediately agreed with the decision. The buses will be taken off the roads tonight. An independent surveyor is to be engaged to inspect all the vehicles. The bendy buses serve a third of all the routes. Earlier this afternoon the GWU had also asked Arriva to withdraw the bendy buses. It later issued a statement welcoming the decision. Today's incident took place in  Xemxija  roundabout at about 12.35 p.m. Thick smoke could be seen coming from the back window of the bus and the engine vents. The blaze was contained quickly. The passengers disembarked unharmed. A fire crew was on the scene. One bus was destroyed in Marsa early on Sunday morning and another was extensively damaged in Mellieha on Sunday night. Six other less serious cases were reported since the start of the year. Transport Malta launched an...