15 killed, 57 hurt in accident in Maharashtra's Buldana district

At least 15 people were killed and 57 injured early on Monday when two private luxury buses collided in Maharashtra's Buldana district, police said.

The accident took place around 3.30am on the Mehkar-Sultanpur stretch of the Aurangabad-Nagpur highway, around 300km from Nagpur, when most passengers were sleeping.

"The vehicles caught fire after the collision and at least 12 passengers were burnt in their seats," Mehkar Police Station head BI Suryawanshi told IANS.

The injured, of whom 20 are reported to be serious, have been rushed to the Mehkar civil hospital.

“The buses belonged to Royal Travels and Soni Travels. One of them was coming from Nagpur and going to Pune while the other was going to Nagpur," Suryawanshi said.

Locals rushed to assist and helped shift the injured to hospital. The identity of the victims is being ascertained.