Deadly Bus Fire Kills 20 in Andhra Pradesh

On October 21, 2025, a tragic bus fire incident occurred near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, claiming the lives of 19 passengers and a biker. The private travels bus, operated by Vemuri Kaveri Travels, was traveling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru when the accident happened around 3 AM.

The sleeper coach bus had 46 people on board, including two drivers. As the bus was speeding along the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, it rammed a bike from the rear near Chinna Tekuru village. The bike got entangled beneath the bus and was dragged for about 300 meters. This likely caused the bike's fuel tank to explode, engulfing the bus in flames within minutes.

With the fire starting from the front, the only entry-exit door reportedly got jammed due to the intense heat, trapping the passengers inside the bus with sealed glass windows. While some survivors managed to break the windows and jump out, 19 passengers and the biker, identified as Shiva Shankar (21), were charred to death. The bodies were badly burnt, making identification difficult.

The two drivers, Sivanarayana and Miryala Lakshmaiah, were among the 27 people who survived the accident. Lakshmaiah, who was driving the bus at the time, claimed he saw the bike at the last minute and couldn't stop immediately.