Another 43 people with serious burns were taken to hospital in Nashik, a city in Maharashtra state, police said.
At least 12 people were killed in India When a bus caught fire after hitting a truck on a highway in western India early Saturday, an official said.
Another 43 people with serious burns were taken to hospital in Nashik, a city in Maharashtra state, police officer Bhagwan Adke said.
Most of the passengers were sleeping when the bus caught fire around 5am local time and the vehicle was completely burned down, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Some people living near the highway arrived but could not be saved when the fierce fire engulfed the vehicle. Rescue work began after firefighters and police dealt with the blaze, Adke said.
Suffering from the bus tragedy in Nashik. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones in this confusion. I hope the injured recover as soon as possible. Local authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected: PM @narendramodi
– PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 8, 2022
Eknath Shinde, the state’s top elected official, said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “stricken by the bus tragedy”.
“May the injured recover as soon as possible. The local government is providing every possible support to the affected people,” Modi posted on social media.
Nashik is nearly 200 kilometers (120 mi) northeast of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.
The incident happened a few days later at least 25 people was killed after a bus carrying wedding guests veered off the road and fell into a deep gorge in northern India.
The vehicle was traveling along a treacherous mountain highway in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand state on Tuesday.
On Sunday, a farm tractor carrying Hindu pilgrims overturned and fell into a pond in Ghatampur during north india Kanpur city, killing 26 people, most of them women and children.
According to the police, more than 110,000 people are killed each year in road accidents across India. The accidents are caused by reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and old vehicles.
According to a World Bank report released last year, the country accounts for 11% of all global road deaths despite having only 1% of the world’s vehicles.
The same report estimates about 150,000 car accident deaths in India every year, or one death every four minutes.
It added that road crashes cost the Indian economy around $75 billion a year, with medical costs and loss of income driving many crash survivors into poverty.
