Twenty burned to death after bus in India catches fire

At least 20 people were burned to death as a result of a fire caused by a suspected short circuit on a passenger bus in northern India.

Local ruling party politician Mahant Pratap Puri told The Associated Press that the bus, with 35 to 50 passengers on board, was minutes away from starting its journey between the towns of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan.

“Passengers did not have time to get off the bus as the fire spread rapidly,” Puri said.

He said that the bodies of 19 passengers were recovered from the bus, and one person died of burns on the way to the hospital.

At least 15 passengers were seriously injured and taken to hospital.

Puri said that just five minutes after leaving Jaisalmer, smoke started coming out from the rear of the vehicle due to a suspected short circuit.

The driver managed to stop the bus on the roadside near the military station, but within minutes flames engulfed the vehicle.

“It was a new bus fully loaded with air conditioning gas. There was only a single door for entry and exit. Unfortunately, the passengers sitting at the back could not reach the exit and were burned alive,” Puri said.

The local government called for information from relatives to confirm the identities of the victims and planned to identify the remains using DNA evidence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan’s top elected official Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.

Modi also announced that compensation would be paid to the families of the victims.