A tire burst caused a bus to lose control and crash into a highway divider and catch fire, killing 25 people in western India early Saturday, police told local media.
Police officer Sunil Kadasne told the Press Trust of India news agency that 33 people were on the bus when the accident occurred around 1:30 a.m. (4:00 p.m. ET) on a road in the Buldhana district of India. Maharashtra state. The eight survivors were taken to a hospital, he said.
The private tour bus was heading to the city of Pune from Nagpur, another city in the state.
Fatal road accidents are common in India, often due to reckless driving, poor roads, and aging vehicles. More than 110,000 people are killed each year in road accidents in India, according to the police.
State Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted separate tweets expressing their regrets and said they would pay support to each victim’s family in the amount of 700,000 Indian rupees ($8,500).