In a shocking incident, a woman and her two sons were burnt alive in Andhra Pradesh, as the car they were travelling in, overturned and caught fire near Bathalur in Kurnool district.

The mishap had taken place in the wee hours of Monday, when the car reportedly hit a heap of gravel on the roadside.

The deceased have been identified as Vanita Kumari, and her sons Prem Kumar(5) and Umesh Kumar (2), all natives of Proddutur in Kadapa district. 

Raja Prasad, her brother-in-law who was driving the car, sustained severe injuries and was being treated at the Nandyal government hospital, The New Indian Express reported.

According to the police, they were all heading to Nandyal in Kurnool district, when the accident occurred.

Allagadda Circle Inspector Dastagiri Babu and his staff inspected the remains of the car, and shifted the bodies of the deceased for a post-mortem. The police have registered a case, The Hindu reported.

This is also not the first such incident in the state.

In April this year, an Andhra woman was burnt alive, after the car in which she was travelling, caught fire in Visakhapatnam district.

The woman, identified as Nagamani, was with her husband in the car at the time of the incident. 

The husband managed to escape, after locals reportedly gathered at the spot and pulled him to a safe distance.

The locals also tried putting out the fire themselves, but to no avail.

Reports suggest that the central locking system of the car failed, after the vehicle caught fire, which led to Nagamani's death.