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Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), October 24 (IANS) 19 passengers were burnt alive when a private Volvo bus carrying over 40 people caught fire after colliding with a two-wheeler in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool early Friday.
The Volvo bus, owned by a private travel operator, was registered in Odisha and was on its way from Hyderabad to Bengaluru when it met with an accident near Chinnatekur village on the outskirts of Kurnool around 3.30 am.
Police said 21 passengers survived as they managed to escape through the emergency door and broke windows to get out. Some passengers could not be traced.
There were 43 people in the Vakaveri Travels bus, including two drivers. The passengers included 10 women and two children.
Kurnool District Collector A. Siri told media persons at the crash site that they had located 21 of the 41 people on board. Of these 21 people, 11 were taken to hospitals in Kurnool. The condition of all the injured is stable.
The bus started its journey from Hyderabad around 10.30 pm, and when it was near Kurnool on National Highway 44 (NH-44) at around 3:30 am, a two-wheeler collided with the bus. The motorcycle got stuck under the belly of the bus and the spark from the bike being dragged and fuel leakage from it caused the fire.
Survivors said the bus dragged the two-wheeler for about 300 metres. The fire started from the front part of the bus where the bike was stuck.
Most of the passengers were sleeping at the time of the accident. Survivors said that the door of the bus was jammed resulting in more casualties. One of the survivors said he woke up hearing screams of “fire” and broke the back window to jump to safety with some others.
Akash, one of the survivors, said that within minutes the bus was engulfed in flames. Most of the passengers on the plane are from Hyderabad.
The person riding the bike also died in the accident. He was identified as Shiv Shankar (20), a resident of Kurnool city.
By the time a fire engine reached the spot, the bus was completely burnt to ashes. The police swung into action to take the injured to the hospital.
The Collector said they have to confirm whether the bus hit the bike or the two-wheeler collided with the bus and went under it due to the impact of the collision, which resulted in spark and leakage of fuel which caused the fire.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Koya Praveen said that the fire started from the bike. “The fuel tank of the bus is intact. The fire started from the fuel tank of the bike. Since the material under the bus was highly combustible, the fire spread rapidly,” he said.
The DIG said that one of the two drivers is in his custody while the other is yet to be traced.
A team of officials including forensic experts took out the bodies. Since the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, DNA testing will be conducted to identify the remains.
Telangana Chief Minister A. On the instructions of Revanth Reddy, Gadwal District Collector and Superintendent of Police reached the spot to assist the families of the dead and survivors.
13 ambulances have left from Hyderabad for Kurnool to bring back the dead bodies.
According to officials, the deceased were from Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister M. Ramaprasad Reddy visited the accident site. He said that the state government will provide all possible help to the families of the deceased.
–IANS
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