Bus accident kills 20 in India's Telengana

Twenty people have died, and several others have been injured after a passenger bus collided with a gravel-laden truck on India's Hyderabad-Bijapur highway in Telengana on Monday morning, NDTV reports. 

The accident took place in Telangana's Rangareddy district, about 60 km from Hyderabad. The bus, belonging to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, reportedly had 70 passengers on board. It was travelling from Tandur in Vikarabad district to Hyderabad when it collided with a truck laden with construction material. The gravel loaded on the truck fell into the bus, burying several passengers.

The passengers killed in the accident include a 10-month-old baby, 10 women, and the drivers of both heavy vehicles. Several passengers injured in the accident were shifted to a government hospital. The condition of some of the injured is critical, reports have said.

Heartbreaking scenes showed people buried in the gravel screaming for help. Police and rescue workers struggled to pull out the injured. Rescue teams had to cut through the bus to retrieve the bodies.

The driver and the six rows behind his seat were the worst-hit, and most passengers in this part of the bus died on the spot.