India: Bus collision blaze kills 20 on route between Bengaluru and Hyderabad

A fire sparked by a fuel leak following the collision of a private bus and a motorcycle on the route between India's southern tech cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad killed at least 20 people, domestic media said on Friday, citing officials.

Though India is the world's third-largest car market, it has some of the deadliest roads, with road accidents last year killing about 180,000 nationwide, authorities said in January.

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"Of the 41 passengers, 21 have been rescued," A Siri, a district revenue official, told news agency ANI. "Among the remaining, the bodies of 11 have been identified so far."

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the tragedy and announced ex-gratia for kin of deceased.

"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 (Dh2,091)," he said.

A similar accident last month killed 19 people in the western desert state of Rajasthan when a private bus caught fire.

Reuters has a minority stake in ANI.