Bus collision blaze kills at least 20 in southern India

At least 20 people died in a fire that broke out due to a fuel leak after a bus and a motorcycle collided on the route between India’s southern technology cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

“21 out of 41 passengers were rescued,” district revenue official A Siri told news agency ANI.

“Among the remaining people, the bodies of 11 people have been identified so far.”

Most of the passengers were sleeping when the accident occurred and those who were awake managed to break the windows and jump out, news channel India Today reported.

The fatal collision followed a bus fire in the northern state of Rajasthan on October 14, killing 22 passengers.

Although India is the world’s third-largest auto market, it has some of the deadliest roads, with nearly 180,000 people killed in traffic crashes last year, officials said in January.

with DPA