36 passengers escape as bus catches fire in AP

As many as 36 passengers of a private travel bus had a narrow escape as the vehicle caught fire in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district early Friday.

The accident occurred at Bheemavaram Adda Road in Ulavapadu mandal. There were no casualties, police said.

The bus belonging to Kaveri Travels was on its way to Tirupati from Hyderabad. The driver noticed smoke emanating from the engine. Showing presence of mind, he immediately stopped the bus and alerted passengers.

All the passengers managed to get down from the bus before the fire engulfed the vehicle. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as all passengers deboarded.

Firefighting personnel rushed to the spot and doused the fire. The bus was completely gutted.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Police registered a case and took up an investigation.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have seen a series of bus fire incidents in recent months.

On April 27, a private travel bus was gutted in a fire in Telangana’s Medak district. There were no passengers in the bus at the time of the mishap. The driver and another person, who were in the bus, immediately got off after noticing the fire.

At least 14 people were burnt alive, and 15 others were injured as a private travel bus caught fire after colliding with a tipper truck in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district on March 26. The accident occurred near Rayavaram when the bus collided with a tipper truck near a stone quarry. Both vehicles were completely gutted in the fire.

Nineteen people were burnt to death when a private bus caught fire after running over a motorbike lying on the road following an accident near Kurnool town of Andhra Pradesh on October 24, 2025. The bus belonging to a private tour operator and carrying 46 people was on its way to Bengaluru from Hyderabad when the ghastly accident happened near Chinnatekur village on the outskirts of Kurnool.

On November 3, 2025, a bus-truck collision in the Rangareddy district of Telangana claimed 19 lives and left 24 others injured. The tipper truck laden with gravel rammed into the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) bus coming from the opposite direction.