12 dead and more than 30 injured after bus hits truck and catches fire in India

Some passengers who ran out of bus in the nick of time say they are lucky to have survived

At least 12 people, including a child, were killed and over 30 others sustained severe injuries on Saturday when a bus caught fire after hitting a truck in India’s western state of Maharashtra.

Several suffered serious burn injuries and were rushed to a local civic hospital in Nashik city, located 190km north of the country’s financial capital Mumbai.

The bus caught fire around 5am local time after hitting a trailer truck transporting diesel on the Nashik-Aurangabad highway, police said.

Most of the passengers were sleeping when the blaze engulfed the bus and ended up completely charring the vehicle.

Locals living near the highway rushed to the spot but failed to help due to the intensity of the fire. Rescue work began after the fire service and police doused the blaze, police added.

Videos on social media showed the entire vehicle on fire with plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

Anita Chaudhari, one of the survivors, said she woke up and ran out with her daughter in the nick of time.

“We were sleeping in the bus, when we heard a loud noise. The bus had caught fire,” Ms Chaudhari told news agency PTI.

“Somehow, I managed to get out of the bus along with my daughter. We are lucky to have survived.”

Another passenger, Piraji Dhotre, who was travelling with his uncles said they ran as soon as they woke up due to the fire.

“Luckily, we got up and immediately ran out of the bus when we saw that it had caught fire. One of my uncles received injuries in the accident,” he said.

Medics treat people injured in a bus that caught fire in a highway in Nashik (AP)

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde announced a financial aid of Rs 500,000 (£5,444) for the kin of the deceased and said the state would bear the medical expenses for the treatment of the injured. He later visited the accident spot and ordered a detailed inquiry into the accident.

Prime minister Narendra Modi said he was anguished by the bus tragedy.

“May the injured recover at the earliest. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected,” Mr Modi tweeted, while announcing an additional Rs 200,000 (£2,177) for the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 (£544) for the injured.