TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nine electric buses burst into flames on Monday (Oct 21) possibly due to their lithium-ion batteries.

The Taichung City Fire Department received a fire report in a bus parking lot on Jinghe Street in Beitun District at 2 a.m., per UDN. It dispatched 21 fire trucks and 46 firefighters to the scene. 

The fire occurred in an electric bus depot for a company that had ceased operations. Firefighters extinguished the fire by 4:09 a.m., and no injuries were reported. 

Nine electric buses were burned—eight destroyed and one partially damaged. No suspicious individuals were found after reviewing surveillance footage. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. A malfunction of the buses' lithium-ion batteries or other electrical issues were named as possible causes. 

The electric buses were owned by the now-defunct Sifang Electric Bus Company, per Newtalk. Last year the company faced a wage dispute, which led to a full strike by its drivers and the resignation of all its employees.

The bank repossessed several of the company’s electric buses following Sifang's bankruptcy in October 2023. Taichung's transportation bureau said the vehicles had been put out of operation.