Hyderabad: More than 40 people are feared dead after a Hyderabad bound Luxury Bus caught fire at Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, which is located 150 km from here. The Air-conditioned Volvo Bus had originated  from Kalasipalyam area of Bangalore at 11 PM last night and belonged to a local tour operator Jabbar Travels.
The Incident occurred at around 5 AM today morning, when the Bus Driver tried to overtake a Car and hit its Fuel Tank with a culvert, leading to an explosion and subsequent fire.
Eyewitnesses say that the Bus was travelling at very high speed and upon accident, the entire Bus engulfed in fire immediately. The Bus driver,  the cleaner along with five other passengers could only manage to escape, by breaking the glass windows. Most of the passengers were asleep when the Bus caught fire.
According to the Bus Owner Shakeel Ahmad, “Most of the passengers could not escape as the flames caught the plastic and cloth materials, especially the seats, and were burnt to death”.
The Bus Driver admitted that he was unable to open the emergency exit in time. He claimed that the tyre of the Bus Burst and due to this he lost control.
Later updates show that only 29 passengers had boarded the Bus at Bangalore, while the remaining passengers boarded at Hindupur and Ananthapur.
Only few passengers could yet be identified, because of the disfigured and burnt corpses. Police is trying to identify the rest using online Reservation list and other clues. Moreover, 45 Dead Bodies have been retrieved out from the burnt Bus.
News reports say that several techies working in IT Companies of Bangalore are among the Victims of the  Accident.
(Updated at 4:50 PM using latest inputs)