22 killed after bus collides with truck in northern India

At least 22 people were charred to death and 19 others sustained burn injuries after a passenger bus caught fire following a collision with a truck in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Monday, a senior police official said.

"The incident took place around 1 a.m. local time when the state-run bus collided head-on with the truck coming from the opposite direction on an under-contruction stretch of national highway 24 in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district," Bareilly's police chief Joginder Kumar told the media.

The impact of the collision was such that the diesel tank of the bus caught fire immediately and soon the flames engulfed the vehicle.

"Most of the passengers of the bus were fast asleep at the time of the accident, as a result of which only a few people managed to escape. While 22 passengers died on the spot, those injured have been admitted to the district hospital, where some are said to be serious," the official said.

The bus, belonging to Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, was carrying 38 passengers, along with two drivers and a conductor, to the state's Gonda district from the Indian capital when the accident happened.

Local TV channels showed footage of the charred bus and reported that three fire tenders, though arrived on the spot soon after the accident, took nearly 90 minutes to douse the flames.

Quoting eye-witnesses, the reports said that the bus was travelling at high speed and was on the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident. "We heard the sound of a collision and then saw fire engulfing the vehicle," a local tea vendor, Ramu Singh, was quoted as saying.

"Around 5.45 a.m. (local time), we received 22 bodies from the bus accident site. The bodies are charred beyond recognition. It is difficult to even determine the gender of the people," Dr Shailesh Ranjan of the Bareilly district hospital, said.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, the police official said, adding that efforts are on to nab the driver of the truck who fled the spot after the accident. "We will also interrogate the driver of the bus to ascertain the exact cause of the accident," he said.

India's road fatality rate is among the highest in the world, with more than 400 people being killed in accidents daily, according to statistics. Most of the road occurred due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles.