At least seven persons were burnt alive and 13 others suffered severe burn injuries when a passenger bus loaded with petroleum products caught fire after an accident in Banke district on Tuesday.

The bus (Lu 1 Kha 5828), en route to Kohalpur from Butwal, caught fire immediately after the accident at Khaskushma-8 of Banke district. Police said most of the passengers had carried petroleum products with them due to ongoing fuel crisis in the country which ignited and fueled the fire. Ten passengers were rescued alive from the burning inferno.

Most of the bodies of the deceased are burned beyond recognition, Dang SP Kuber Kadayat said.

Passengers who escaped the ordeal informed that the speeding bus went out of control, struck a tree nearly 25 meters off the road and immediately caught fire.

There were around 33 passengers travelling on the bus, police said. Most of them were returning their homes for Dashain festival.