MUMBAI, May 2: Some 45 passengers were burnt alive on Thursday when their bus exploded in a ball of fire in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, reports said.

The Press Trust of India put the toll at 45 and said 20 others were critically injured in the accident that happened in the state’s Ahmednagar area, but state government officials here said they could account for only 31 deaths.

Those killed dead included 13 women and six children, officials from the state-run bus company said, adding that many of the victims were charred beyond recognition.

The axle of the speeding bus snapped and ignited diesel in the fuel tank and the blast overturned the vehicle which was carrying 66 passengers to the pilgrimage town of Shirdi.

“Those injured have suffered 30 to 90 per cent burns,” an official from the site said, adding the bus appeared to “explode in a ball of fire.”

The police arrested the unhurt driver of the charred bus and the state bus company promised 100,000 rupees to the families of each of those burned alive, officials said.—AFP