Maharashtra: 25 killed after bus catches fire on Samruddhi Expressway

Bus catches fire on Maharashtra's Samruddhi Mahamarg Expressway killing 25 people, including three children, and eight others injured. The private travels bus was on way from Nagpur to Pune when it hit a pole and then rammed into a divider around 1.30 am near Pimpalkhuta village, police said.

The bus turned turtle and caught fire, police said. There were at 33 passengers in the bus, an official said, adding the eight passengers who survived were admitted to nearby hospital.

Many of the passengers hailed from Nagpur, Wardha and Yavatmal, the official said. Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasne told PTI that as per preliminary information, a bus tyre burst and the vehicle hit a pole, collided with a divider and caught fire. Of the 33 passengers in the bus, 25 were charred to death.

The driver of the bus, who survived the incident, said that the bus overturned after a tyre burst leading to flames in the bus, according to Kadasane.