LUCKNOW: Police say 14 members of a family returning from a wedding were burned to death when the minivan they were travelling in caught fire in northern India. The dead include 10 children. 

Rafiq Ahmad, a local police officer in Uttar Pradesh state, said Wednesday that the vehicle was fuelled by a cylinder of cooking gas that caught fire due to a short circuit.

Ahmad said the cylinder likely exploded, turning the minivan into a ball of fire and trapping the passengers inside.

The accident took place late Tuesday night near Shamli, a town about 350 kilometres southwest of state capital Lucknow.

Ahmad said the van was carrying 20 passengers and was returning after attending a marriage ceremony. The six surviving passengers were injured.