In Andhra Pradesh, 42 persons were killed when a private bus from Bangalore to Hyderabad caught fire at Palem village near Kothakota in Mahaboob Nagar district after it hit a culvert on the national highway during early hours this morning. The Volvo bus left Bengalore at 10 PM last evening. District Collector Girija Shankar informed reporters that 41 bodies recovered from the burnt bus and the exact number of passengers is yet to be known. Seven persons including the driver and cleaner of the bus could manage to escape with injuries while the injured passengers have been shifted to Hyderabad for treatment.

Quoting eye witnesses, our correspondent said flames erupted after the multi-axle bus hit a culvert and the blaze engulfed entire bus with in no time. The bus has capacity of 50 persons.

Inspector General Police of the region Naveen Chander said DNA test will be conducted for identifying bodies as they were charred beyond recognition. Seeking the details, the family members of the passenger have gathers in large numbers near the office of Private Traveler in Hyderabad and Bangalore for information about their near and dear ones.

Meanwhile, the State Government has ordered an enquiry into the incident. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the district authorities to send a detailed report about the incident. Forensic experts and clues teams have left Hyderabad to the accident site.

A control room was set up at Wanaparty for passenger information. The details of 33 persons are available with the on-line booking of tickets. Following are the helpline numbers:
Mobile no: 9494600100 and
Land Lines: 08542-245927, 08542-245930, 08542-245932.