At least 22 people were killed and 15 others injured when a passenger bus collided with a truck and caught fire on National Highway 24 in Bareilly early Monday. reports said.

The  accident took place between 1.00 am and 1.30 am.

According to the reports, the bus collided head on with a speeding truck near the inverted University turn when the bus from New Delhi heading towards Gonda collided with a speeding truck coming from the direction of Lucknow.

An explosion followed and fire broke out in the bus. Fire tenders were rushed to the accident site.

”22 passengers of the bus were killed while 15 sustained injuries. One of the passengers is critically injured and has been hospitalised”, police said.

Senior police officers including Inspector General of Police SK Bhagat, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jogendra Kumar and other officials are monitoring the rescue and relief operations.

Police officials said the death toll could rise as most of the passengers were severely burnt.

According to eyewitnesses, some of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition and efforts were underway to extract the remains of the passengers.

Reports said that the emergency exit door of the bus had jammed following the collision, trapping the passengers inside the vehicle in flames.

The traffic has been diverted and now efforts were underway to extract the charred remains of the passengers.

Guest