Forty-four people dead in bus fire in Andhra Pradesh in India

AT LEAST 44 people have been killed when their bus was engulfed in flames after crashing on a highway in southe India, police say.

The tragedy happened after the bus smashed into a central reservation on a highway in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, between the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, piercing the fuel tank.

\"`The number of dead, which includes children, is 44,'' local police spokesman Venkateshwarlu, who uses only one name, said today.

Out of 49 people on the bus, five, including the driver and the bus cleaner, broke windows and escaped before the flames engulfed the vehicle, killing the rest, police said.

\"The driver and the cleaner tried to run, but the police caught them and they are now in our custody for questioning,'' said Venkateshwarlu, adding that the three other survivors had been admitted to a local hospital.

Media reports said that most of the passengers were asleep when the bus burst into flames about 140 kilometres from the southeaste city of Hyderabad, leaving them no time to scramble to safety.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition.