Fire service personnel remove the burnt articles from the bus that was gutted in a fire at Chinnatekur on the outskirts of Kurnool, where a private bus caught fire killing several passengers, on Friday.
| Photo Credit: U. Subramanyam
Officers deployed in Kurnool district’s Fire Control Room received a fire call around 3 a.m. on the fire incident in Bengaluru-bound private travels bus on Friday (October 24, 2025).
“The mishap occurred due to overspeed and may be negligence of the driver. The bus went up in flames near Ullandakonda village, 18 kilometres away from Kurnool. In all, 43 persons were in the ill-fated bus,” said the in-charge Director-General, A.P. State Disaster Response and Fire Services, P. Venkata Ramana.
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“Fire personnel reached the spot within a few minutes. By the time the fire personnel reached the spot, the vehicle was engulfed in flames and no screams were heard from the bus,” the Fire Services D-G told The Hindu.
Passengers trapped in the bus died on the spot in the fire. The firemen, along with the locals and others, shifted the injured to the nearby hospitals and put off the flames.
“In all, charred remains of 19 passengers were retrieved from the burnt bus. A detailed investigation into the mishap is on,” Mr. Venkata Ramana, who rushed to the spot said.
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According to the preliminary report, the accident occurred due to over speed, poor visibility and fuel leakage after the bus hit a bike, which rammed underneath the sleeper coach, the Fire Services D-G said.
The bike had hit the bus from the front and was dragged underneath. A part of the bike might had hit the fuel tank and led to a leakage of fuel. This combined with the fire generated out of friction after the collision,might have led to the fire, said the fire officials.
Published – October 24, 2025 11:41 am IST
