At least 42 people have died after the luxury bus they were travelling in caught fire in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh, police said, BBC reports.
The bus, carrying more than 50 passengers, was travelling from Bangalore city to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh’s capital, when the incident happened early on Wednesday.
Seven people, including the driver, managed to escape the blaze. Police say a collision with a culvert ignited the fuel tank of the vehicle.
The incident happened at Kothakota in Mahbubnagar district, 140km (86 miles) from Hyderabad, when the air-conditioned Volvo luxury bus hit a culvert, police said.
Most of the passengers were sleeping when the incident took place. Local police spokesman Venkateshwarlu told the AFP news agency that the police had arrested the driver and his assistant who “tried to run [away]” after fleeing the blaze. Three other passengers were taken to a local hospital.
