Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) | A Bengaluru-bound private bus caught fire in this district on Friday after colliding with a two-wheeler, with the blaze being triggered after the motor bike with its fuel cap open was dragged underneath the bus, leaving 20 people dead.

Most of the victims were charred beyond recognition, police said. The dead included two children and the biker, while nine persons suffered injuries.

Condolences poured in, with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu (AP) and A Revanth Reddy (Telangana) expressing anguish over the early morning incident. The Centre, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments announced ex-gratia.

Survivors recounted tense moments ahead of their miraculous escape, albeit with injuries, while the not so lucky ones perished in their sleep. Passengers broke window glass to escape to safety.

The ill-fated bus was carrying 44 passengers at the time of the accident.

"According to information given by one of the bus drivers, the bike was lying on the road. It may have been due to a separate accident or a self-fall" Kurnool SP Vikrant Patel said about the cause of the accident. Investigation is on to ascertain this.

Several passengers were fast asleep and died without even realizing what was happening when the vehicle caught fire around 3 AM. The blaze completely gutted the sleeper bus, reducing it to a metal skeleton. There were some techies onboard when the accident happened. One of them was proceeding to Bengaluru to attend interview in a top IT firm.

Some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, prompting officials to call forensic teams to collect DNA samples of the deceased.

"So far, 19 bodies have been retrieved from the charred bus. The biker's body is in the mortuary," Kurnool Range DIG Koya Praveen told PTI.

The bus door got jammed due to a short circuit and the vehicle was completely gutted within minutes. Most survivors were aged between 25 and 35 years, police added.

According to officials, some of the materials used for making beds and curtains were flammable, which might have intensified the fire, causing it to spread quickly.

Home Minister V Anitha said the state government has constituted a committee comprising officials from the transport, roads and revenue departments to investigate the fatal fire. She further stated that 16 teams have been constituted to probe the incident.

The vehicle possessed an All India permit and a valid fitness certificate, and investigators are examining how the accident occurred.

State Transport Minister M Ramprasad Reddy, addressing a press conference said there were people from different states on the bus among which six belonged to AP.

As per CM Naidu's instructions, the government will provide ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh to those who were injured.

Similarly, Karnataka and Telangana have agreed to give a similar amount, he said. Three persons who belong to Odisha, Tamilnadu and Bihar will also be taken care of.

Nine persons are undergoing treatment, including six with fractures, who are admitted to Kurnool Government General Hospital (GGH), while three are in a private facility, Anitha said.

District Collector A Siri said those who escaped the accident are stable and out of danger.

Many passengers could not escape the tragedy as it occurred during the night when they were asleep, she said, adding that the bus door did not open immediately as some wires got snapped, which worsened the severity of the incident.

Most of the passengers belonged to Hyderabad, Siri added.

"The loss of lives in a tragic bus fire accident in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh is deeply unfortunate. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured," President Murmu said in a post on X.

PM Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident.

"Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a mishap in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh," Modi said in a post on X.

"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," the PM said.

Chandrababu Naidu, his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy, AP deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar also sympathised with the families of the deceased.

The Telangana government set up a helpline to assist the kin of passengers.

Meanwhile, it came to light that the ill-fated luxury bus had several challans imposed by the Telangana police for alleged traffic violations, including dangerous driving and unauthorised parking.