Bus catches fire after being hit by a motorcycle in southern India, killing at least 25

A passenger bus erupted into flames after a motorcycle crashed into it on Friday, 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.

Volunteers remove a body from the debris of a passenger bus which caught fire after a collision with a motorbike on a highway in Chinnatekuru village. AP

The bus carrying 44 passengers was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state. The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, around 210 kilometres 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.

Most passengers were asleep at the time of the accident. The bus was gutted and the unidentified bike rider also died, he said.

The Press Trust of India reported that bodies were burned beyond recognition. A few lucky passengers jolted awake by the flames managed to break windows to escape.

The news agency interviewed a man identified only by his first name, Surya, who fractured his legs when he jumped from a height of over 15 feet (4.5 metres) to escape the burning bus. He said doctors expected him to make a quick recovery.

The tragedy brought back memories of a similar bus fire 12 years ago on the same highway, where at least 45 people died when a bus caught fire after hitting a culvert.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh’s highest elected official, N. Chandrababu Naidu, offered their condolences to the bereaved families Friday. Meanwhile forensic experts were investigating.

The deadly bus fire in Andhra Pradesh was the second tragic accident in India in less than two weeks. A suspected short circuit sparked a fire on a passenger bus in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan earlier this month, rapidly engulfing the vehicle in flames and killing at least 20 people.

Associated Press