Seven people travelling in a private bus are feared to have been charred to death in a road accident near Kamalapura town in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district. The incident took place in the early hours on Friday, June 3, the police said. The fire was following an accident between the bus and a tempo. The bus was carrying around 35 passengers from Goa to Hyderabad and went up in flames after the incident. 

According to police sources, 22 passengers managed to escape from the bus that was completely charred due to fire. The injured have been shifted to various hospitals in Kalaburagi and are undergoing treatment. The driver of the tempo has also been severely injured.

Isha Panth, Superintendent of Police of Kalaburagi district said that as per preliminary investigations it was suspected that 7 to 8 passengers were stuck inside the charred bus. "However, at this stage it is not possible to tell the exact number of deaths in the tragedy," she said.

The incident took place around 6.30 am in the outskirts of Kamalapur taluk in Kalaburagi district on the Bidar-Srirangapatna highway. The bus was travelling from Goa to Hyderabad. Police sources said that the bus had caught fire after colliding with the tempo. The bus then collided with the side of the bridge and also veered off the road due to the impact of the accident. More than 35 passengers were travelling in the bus at the time of the accident.

The private bus belonged to the Orange company in Goa. Local residents were not able to go near the bus as it caught fire soon after the collision. They  then informed the police, fire brigade and emergency services.