22 killed after bus collides with truck in northern India

At least 22 people were charred to death and many others sustained burn injuries after a passenger bus caught fire following a collision with a truck in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the wee hours of Monday, a senior police official said.

"The incident occurred around 1 a.m. (local time) when the speeding state-run bus collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction on an under-contruction stretch of national highway 24 in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district," Bareilly's police chief Joginder Kumar said.

The impact of the collision was such that the bus caught fire immediately. While 22 charred bodies have been recovered from the bus, those injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals where the condition of some are said to be serious, the official said.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, he added.

India's road fatality rate is among the highest in the world, with more than 400 people being killed in accidents every day, according to statistics. Most of the road occurred due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)