Panna, Madhya Pradesh:
21 people were burnt to death and 13 injured after a passenger bus fell from a bridge and caught fire in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district on Monday afternoon.
The accident happened close to the Pandav falls in the Panna National Park area.
The bus belonged to Anup Travels and was en route Satna from Chattarpur. Eyewitnesses say that the bus driver lost control of the bus which led to the accident.
"I saw the bus on the small bridge, suddenly it was out of control and fell off. The bus fell on the left side where the two doors were which were blocked the other side had windows but with grills so only three-four could escape. As soon as the bus fell it caught fire," Forest guard Rajkumar, an eyewitness to the horrific accident, told NDTV.
Help reached the spot about an hour later. The collector, senior police officials along with a fire engine and ambulance reached the spot and doused the blaze.
The administration was able to bring 13 people out of the bus alive, but could not save the lives of 21 people.
"It was a terrible accident bodies, have been charred. We have been able to save 13 people while 21 have died. We will investigate if the bus was plying on this route without proper permit and also the cause of the accident," Collector of Panna Shivnarayan Singh, who was at the accident spot, told NDTV.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 20,000 to the injured in the accident.