HYDERABAD: A passenger bus erupted into flames after a motorcycle crashed into it early Friday (Oct 24), killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India, police said.
The fire tore through the bus within minutes, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.
The motorcycle rammed into the speeding bus from behind and got stuck, Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus’s fuel tank.
Some managed to smash open windows and leap to safety with minor injuries, but others died in the blaze before help could reach them, Patil said.
The bus carrying 44 passengers was traveling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state. The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, around 210km south of Hyderabad.
“As the smoke started spreading, the driver stopped the bus and tried to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher, but the fire was so intense he couldn’t control it,” Patil said.
Source: CNA
