At least 25 people died after a coach burst into a ball of fire and trapped passengers on the bus in a horror road disaster
Passengers “burned alive” after a horror blaze broke out on a coach, killing at least 25 people.
Dozens of travellers become trapped on a “luxury” bus after a motorcycle crashed into the vehicle, on Friday morning. The inferno quickly ripped through the coach within minutes in southern India. The horror tragedy happened when the vehicle was speeding on a motorway near the Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state. A few of the desperate passengers were able to smash windows and escape the fire, leaving these people with minor injuries.
Other people were unable to escape in time and burned to death before the authorities could arrive to help, senior police officer Vikrant Patil said.
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The coach was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad and Bengaluru, when a motorbike slammed into the speeding bus from behind. The motorcycle became stuck and dragged along with the coach for some time.
The sparks from the motorbike pulling along the road caused the coach’s fuel tank to burst into a ball of fire and quickly burn through the bus, police revealed.
Patil said: “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.”
Many passengers were asleep when the collision happened. At least 25 people were killed, including the motorcyclist, but 15 people rescued from the fireball were admitted to hospital. A forensics team worked with police at the horror scene.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of those killed on Friday morning.
This comes after 63 people were killed after two buses smashed into each other on a motorway in Uganda, on Wednesday. A huge pile-up was sparked on the major highway following the horror crash.
The bus drivers had been travelling in opposite directions and attempted to overtake other vehicles when they collided. One of the buses is said to have veered across the road in an attempt to avoid a crash – only to smash into another coach.
Both vehicles were packed with passengers at the time of the deadly collision, which happened just after midnight. Other cars also crashed while trying got avoid the coach pile-up.
By the time rescue teams arrived at the scene in Kitaleba village, dozens of injured travellers were lying by the roadside. Horrific images showed one car flipped in the pile-up and debris spread across the road.