Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 24 (ANI): The Telangana government on Friday announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Kurnool bus fire accident, and Rs 2 lakh each to those injured.

Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar Goud announced that the ex-gratia will be given to the affected families on the instructions of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

'Upon the instructions of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, the Telangana government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs to the families of the deceased and Rs 2 lakhs to those injured in the Kurnool bus accident,' Goud said in a statement.

All necessary measures are being taken to ensure the injured receive quality medical treatment, he added.

Speaking on the incident, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi told reporters, 'It is a very sad incident. On behalf of my party, I express condolences and hope those injured recover soon.'

Earlier in the day, Goud issued a stern warning that 'unfit buses' that flout rules set by the government would be seized, and added that there would be no playing with the lives of citizens.

'We have directed the transport authorities to seize any unfit buses to eliminate potential threats to life. We direct the transport people that buses will be seized if they don't comply with the rules. There is no playing with the lives of citizens,' Telangana Transport Minister Goud told ANI.

Offering condolences over the lost lives, Goud informed that all concerned government officials were at the scene of the accident.

'It is a very unfortunate incident. The Telangana government offered condolences on the incident. The government has also directed a probe into the same. All the concerned officials from the transport department, along with the district collector, are at the spot. The transport departments of Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka will form legislation to deter such incidents from happening in the future,' the minister said.

The Bengaluru-bound bus from Hyderabad caught fire in Chinnatekur near the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on National Highway (NH) 44 in the early hours of Friday.

Kurnool District Collector (DC) A Siri said that a total of 11 bodies have been identified, while the remaining nine bodies are yet to be accounted for. She said that the incident occurred in the early hours of Friday between 3:00 AM and 3:10 AM.

'There are a total of 41 members in the bus, including two drivers. A bike got stuck under the bus. After the accident, petrol leaked from the bike and caught fire. Of the 41 members, we have traced 21 passengers; they are safe. 11 dead bodies have been removed from the bus. 21 members have minor injuries and are undergoing treatment. We have to confirm about the remaining 9 bodies,' DC Siri said.

She further informed us that the bus doors failed to open after the accident. However, the DC said two drivers managed to escape from the fire.

'This incident happened late at night, and the passengers were sleeping. The bus wires were cut after the accident, and the bus doors didn't open after the accident. We're investigating the matter. The two drivers escaped from the fire. The passengers were coming from Hyderabad, and we're tracing the deceased family members. We've set up a control room for help,' DC Siri said.

A fire official pointed out that there were no safety hammers to break the glass after the accident.

'The bus collided with a bike, dragged it and caused the bike's petrol to leak, which led to a fire. There were no safety hammers to break glass after the fire accident. The bus driver didn't stop after the collision with the bike. The bus' diesel tank didn't catch fire, but the bus was totally damaged. We're investigating the matter,' the official said.

The injured have been shifted to Kurnool Government Hospital for treatment. (ANI)