A private passenger bus caught fire on the Maharashtra expressway in India, resulting in 26 fatalities and eight injuries, police reported.

The incident took place on the Samruddhi Mahamarg near Buldhana, with the bus en route from Nagpur to Pune.

The bus was carrying 33 individuals, including 30 passengers, two drivers, and one additional staffer. Authorities explained that the vehicle crashed into a pole, causing an immediate fire due to the sleeper bus's onboard mattresses. The crash occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday.

According to police reports, the driver allegedly lost control of the bus, causing it to strike a pole and then a wall on the highway at a high speed. The impact led to the dislodgement of the two front tires and the explosion of the bus's diesel tank, sparking the fire.

One of the bus drivers survived the incident. Injured passengers were immediately transported to a nearby hospital. The state government has announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the victims' families. Both Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are set to visit the accident site in Buldhana.

Journalists on the scene described the accident as so severe that identifying the completely charred bodies was nearly impossible.

26 dead and 8 injured after private passenger bus catches fire on Maharashtra expressway The accident occurred on the Samruddhi Mahamarg near Buldhana. The bus, headed from Nagpur to Pune, had 33 people on board and caught fire after it hit a pole, the police said.
It was a sleeper bus and due to the mattresses on board, the bus caught fire instantly, a police official said. The incident happened early saturday morning .The police said the bus was heading from Nagpur to Pune and had 30 passengers, two drivers and another staffer on board.
According to the police, the incident took place at around 2 am after the driver allegedly lost control of the bus. The bus was travelling at a high speed when it hit the pole and then a wall on the highway. Due to its impact, the two (front) tyres came off and the diesel tank of the bus exploded, following which the bus caught fire,” said a senior police official.
The driver of the bus has survived. Another driver, who was sleeping inside the bus
All the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the state government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the victims. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are headed to Buldhana to visit the accident site.
According to local journalists who went to the to cover the accident , they told the accident was so massive that bodies got totally charred and its near like impossible to identify the bodies