Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh)- A Bengaluru-bound private bus caught fire in this district on Friday after colliding with a two-wheeler, with the blaze being triggered after the motor bike with its fuel cap open was dragged underneath the bus, leaving 20 people dead.

Most of the victims were charred beyond recognition, police said. The dead included two children and the biker, while nine persons suffered injuries.

Condolences poured in, with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu (AP) and A Revanth Reddy (Telangana) expressing anguish over the early morning incident. The Centre, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments announced ex-gratia.

Survivors recounted tense moments ahead of their miraculous escape, albeit with injuries, while the not so lucky ones perished in their sleep. Passengers broke window glass to escape to safety.

The ill-fated bus was carrying 44 passengers at the time of the accident.

“According to information given by one of the bus drivers, the bike was lying on the road. It may have been due to a separate accident or a self-fall” Kurnool SP Vikrant Patel said about the cause of the accident. Investigation is on to ascertain this.

Several passengers were fast asleep and died without even realizing what was happening when the vehicle caught fire around 3 AM. The blaze completely gutted the sleeper bus, reducing it to a metal skeleton. There were some techies onboard when the accident happened. One of them was proceeding to Bengaluru to attend interview in a top IT firm.

Some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, prompting officials to call forensic teams to collect DNA samples of the deceased.

“So far, 19 bodies have been retrieved from the charred bus. The biker's body is in the mortuary,” Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen told PTI.

The bus door got jammed due to a short circuit and the vehicle was completely gutted within minutes. Most survivors were aged between 25 and 35 years, police added.

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