Bareilly: Twenty-two people have been reported dead and 19 injured after a bus collided with a truck near the Bareilly bypass on National Highway-24 in Uttar Pradesh today at 1.10 am.

The bus was carrying 38 passengers, along with two drivers and a conductor, to Gonda district from New Delhi.  Authorities said that the truck was coming from Shahjahanpur district and the driver is absconding.

The bodies have been badly charred as the bus caught fire after the collision. The injured have been taken to a district hospital and six of them have been reported as serious. Authorities have so far failed to identify a single body.  “Around 5.45 am, we received 22 dead bodies from the bus accident site. The bodies are charred beyond recognition. It is difficult to even determine the gender of the people,” said Dr. Shailesh Ranjan of the Bareilly district hospital.  

The diesel tank of the bus burst after the collision which led to a fire. According to reports, it took over 90 minutes for fire engines to reach the spot.