Bus fire kills at least 25 people in India

A passenger bus erupted into flames after a motorcycle crashed into it early Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India, police said.

HYDERABAD, India — A passenger bus erupted into flames after a motorcycle crashed into it early Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India, police said.

The fire tore through the bus within minutes, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.

Some managed to smash open windows and leap to safety with minor injuries while others were charred to death before help could arrive, Patil said.

The charred remains of a passenger bus in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it caught fire Friday after a collision with a motorbike.APThe bus with 44 passengers aboard was traveling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state. The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, about 130 miles south of Hyderabad.

The motorcycle rammed into the speeding bus from behind and got stuck, Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus’s fuel tank.