At least seven people have been killed and 22 others injured after a sleeper bus crashed into a trailer and caught on fire on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in India’s Rajasthan, reports bdnews24.com citing NDTV.
The incident took place around 2:30am local time on Wednesday when the bus was travelling from Rishikesh to Indore in Madhya Pradesh at high speed, the Indian broadcaster said.
It added that the bus first hit a trailer before both vehicles caught fire.
Footage aired by the outlet showed the bus and trailer engulfed in flames as passengers screamed for help.
According to NDTV, passengers from the upper berths were thrown to the ground during the crash.
Officials said five of the victims died from burn injuries, while two others died from head injuries.
Witnesses told NDTV that most of those killed had been asleep at the time of the crash.
Firefighters and rescue workers were deployed to the scene to put out the fire and pull out trapped passengers.
All of the injured, most of them women and children, have been admitted to Dausa district hospital for treatment, according to the report.
Local residents alleged that rescue and fire service teams reached the spot late, which they said may have increased the death toll.
They also claimed the bus’s storage compartment had been carrying cigarette packets, which they said helped the fire spread quickly.
The local administration is investigating the cause of the crash and working to identify the injured, as per the NDTV.