At least 40 bus passengers were feared killed when its fuel tank caught fire in a road mishap near Palem village in the district in the early hours on Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred around 5:10 a.m. when the Hyderabad-bound private bus from Bangalore hit against a culvert, breaking its diesel tank which caught fire and suddenly the entire vehicle got engulfed in the blaze, they said.
The bus, carrying 49 passengers, started from Bangalore at 11 p.m last night.
The driver along with cleaner and five other passengers managed to escape, police said quoting eyewitnesses.
"It seems the bus was travelling at a high speed when its fuel tank hit the roadside culvert and caught fire.
There are some causalities feared as the entire bus has been gutted," said a senior police officer.
They are ascertaining the exact number of casualties, he added.
Kothakota Police were further investigating the case and senior police officers have rushed to the spot.
According to a senior district official, the bodies were charred beyond recognition and that they were trying to ascertain the number of those dead by obtaining the list of the passengers travelling in the ill-fated vehicle.
The air-conditioned bus had automatic locking system which made it difficult for the passengers to escape to safety.
Since the bodies were found at the rear end of the bus, it gave an impression that the passengers might have tried to come out of the vehicle from there, the official said.
State Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana said that an inquiry would be conducted into the accident. State information minister D K Aruna, who hails from Mehbubnagar district, visited the accident spot. PCC president Satyanarayana, YSRC president YS Jaganmohan Reddy and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock over the mishap.
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