At least nine people were burnt alive and more than 24 were injured when a moving bus caught fire on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway near Tauru in Haryana’s Nuh district in the wee hours on Saturday, police said.

The devotees, who were returning from a pilgrimage to Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, were proceeding towards Chandigarh when the fire broke out near Nuh. The bus was carrying over 60 people of a family, including women and children, all of whom were residents of Punjab’s Hoshiyarpur.

In the incident, six females and three males sustained serious burn injuries and were declared dead at the hospital. All six women were identified as residents of Punjab. The injured were admitted to Nalhar Medical College, Shaheed Hasan Khan Medical College in Nuh for treatment and were out of danger, the police added.

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Survivors said they smelled smoke at the back of the bus at around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday. A motorcycle rider noticed flames at the back of the bus and followed it. He finally caught up the bus and warned the driver who stopped the bus.

After the bus stopped, locals informed the police and tried to douse the flame and rescue people. After the fire brigade reached the spot, the blaze was doused and the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.

“Nine people — six women and three men — were killed in the accident. Twenty-four people were injured and have been hospitalised. All injured are stable. A forensic team will investigate the matter and a Sub-Divisional Magistrate has been appointed as a nodal officer,” Nuh deputy commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata told Media. The Nuh district administration has also issued a helpline number for the victim’s family for any inquiries, he said.

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