Most of the passengers on the air-conditioned luxury bus were sleeping when the driver attempted to overtake another vehicle at high speed, hitting the fuel tank on a culvert at around 5 am on Wednesday, the police said. The tank burst, causing the fire.
According to the Press Trust of India, the driver along with cleaner and five other passengers managed to escape from the bus the fire engulfed it completely.
A senior district official said the bodies were charred beyond recognition and authorities were trying to ascertain the number of those dead by obtaining the list of the passengers travelling in the bus.
The police say 49 passengers are believed to have been traveling on the bus, which had started from Bangalore late last evening and was driving through Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, 150 km from Hyderabad, when the accident occurred. Many of the passengers were going home for the Diwali festival.
The bus belonged to Jabbar Travels, a well-known tour operator, with offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
State Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana told PTI that an inquiry would be conducted into the accident.
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