Thirty burnt alive in India bus accident

INDIA: At least 30 people, including 10 children, were burnt alive on Sunday when a bus bound for the southern Indian city of Bangalore ploughed into a roadblock and caught fire, police said.

The state-owned vehicle overturned in a ditch and its fuel tank burst into flames, engulfing the bus, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, adding about 30 other people were injured.

The bus was on its way from southern Karnataka's Gulbarga district to Bangalore when the accident happened before dawn, senior police officer Labhu Ram told reporters. At least three of the injured were in a serious condition, he added. The driver was among those killed. India has the highest annual road death toll in the world, bigger than the more populous China, according to the World Health Organisation, with accidents caused by speeding, bad roads, overcrowding and poor vehicle maintenance.

Bangalore, Sunday, AFP