What Caused the Kurnool Bus Fire? A Collision, a Fuel Leak, and a Deadly Chain Reaction

At least 20 people lost their lives in a devastating bus fire in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district early Friday morning, after a collision triggered a blaze that engulfed the entire vehicle within minutes.

The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. near Chinnatekur in Kallur mandal, when an AC bus belonging to Kaveri Travels, carrying 41 passengers from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, collided with a two-wheeler on National Highway 44. According to police and local officials, the impact ruptured the fuel tank of the motorcycle, causing a leak and subsequent explosion that set the bus ablaze. The fire spread rapidly, trapping several passengers inside.

"Deeply pained by the horrific bus fire on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru route near Kurnool. The thought of over 20 innocent passengers losing their lives in such a horrific way is heartbreaking. My prayers are with the victims' families and those battling injuries. No words can ease their pain, but every possible support must reach them without delay," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said in a post on X today.

Eyewitnesses said that most passengers were asleep when the accident happened. Shiva, one of the survivors, told a Telugu channel that the bus hit the bike and dragged it for some distance before the two-wheeler's fuel tank exploded."The bus hit a bike and dragged it along for some time. The fuel tank of the two-wheeler exploded at that moment. Most of us learned about the incident only after the fire broke out. The emergency windows weren't working, but some of us managed to break the windows and jump out," he said, adding that there were children inside the bus.

He also described how passengers struggled to breathe as smoke filled the bus, and many could not reach the emergency exits in time.

Local reports say around 12 passengers managed to escape by breaking open the emergency door. They were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital with burn injuries. Byreddy Shabari, MP of Nandyal, who visited the site, said, "This bus caught fire in minutes. We could save about 19 people. They have been admitted to the hospital. We couldn't identify the rest of the people because their bodies were completely burnt."

The preliminary investigation by Kurnool police and district officials confirms that the fire was accidental, caused by the collision between the bus and the two-wheeler. District Collector A. Siri stated, "The incident occurred between 3 am and 3:10 am when a motorcycle collided with the bus rupturing the fuel tank. The resulting leak in tank and friction might have caused the fire."

The rider of the motorcycle is among those who died in the tragedy. Meanwhile, the bus driver Miryala Lakshmiah, co-driver G. Siva Narayana, and cabin attendant Miryala Ashok escaped unhurt and immediately alerted the authorities.

Rescue teams, firefighters, and police rushed to the spot and doused the flames after several hours. Forensic experts have been deployed to identify the victims as most bodies were charred beyond recognition.