A passenger bus has erupted in flames after a crash with a motorcycle, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India, police said.

The fire ripped through the bus on Friday within minutes, trapping dozens of passengers on board, many of whom were sleeping, as it drove along a highway near Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.

Some managed to smash open windows and leap to safety with minor injuries, while others were burned to death before help could arrive, Patil said, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Eighteen passengers managed to escape from the burning bus and are

being treated for injuries. It is not clear if there were others on the bus who managed to escape.

The motorcycle rammed into the speeding bus from behind and got stuck, Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus?s fuel tank. ?As the smoke started spreading, the driver stopped the bus and tried to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher, but the fire was so intense he couldn?t control it,? Patil added.

The bus was hollowed out and the unidentified bike rider also died, he said.

A team of forensic experts was investigating the incident.

The bus with 44 passengers on board was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state.

The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, about 210 kilometres (130 miles) south of Hyderabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh?s highest elected official, N Chandrababu Naidu, offered their condolences to the bereaved families.

The deadly bus fire was the second such accident in India in less than two weeks. A suspected short circuit sparked a fire on a passenger bus in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan early this month, rapidly engulfing the vehicle in flames and killing at least 20 people. (ALJAZEERA)

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