9 killed as bus catches fire in India's Haryana

 At least nine people, including six women, were killed and 15 others suffered burns Saturday after a bus carrying them caught fire in the northern Indian state of Haryana, police said.

The bus carrying Hindu devotees, including women and children, from neighbouring Punjab state caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway near Tauru in Nuh district, reports Xinhua.

A moving bus carrying around 60 people caught fire, killing nine people and injuring 15 others, a police official said, adding that the injured were hospitalized and their conditions were reported to be stable.

According to police, the victims had jointly hired a bus to pay a visit to the pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh.

"The ill-fated bus was returning to Punjab when it suddenly caught fire," the police official said, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

/MHK/