Hyderabad, Oct. 24- In a ghastly road accident, about 20 passengers were charred to death while 23 others had a providential escape, after a bus caught fire on the Kurnool Highway in the early hours of today.

A family of four including a couple and their two children, returning to Bengaluru from Kurnool, perished in the incident. They are identified as Ramesh, his wife Anusha, their children Shashank and Manvitha, who all died in sleep, in the sleeper coach of the bus.

The mishap occurred near Chinnatekur village in Kallur Mandal, close to Ullindakonda Cross, about 20 kilometres from Kurnool town, at around 3.30 am. The front portion of the Bengaluru–Hyderabad bound VKaveri Travels bus caught fire, after a motorbike collided with the vehicle.

As the blaze intensified, 23 passengers managed to break open the emergency exit and escape with minor injuries, as the main door was locked. The injured were rushed to Kurnool Government Hospital for treatment.

The doctors have initiated procedures for post-mortem of the dead and DNA test to identify the victims.

PM announces ex-gratia

Following the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolence on his ‘X’ handle.

PM Modi stated, “Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a mishap in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. My thoughts are with the affected people and their families during this difficult time. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.”

President of India Droupadi Murmu, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and several others have also expressed their condolences.