Uttar Pradesh : More than a dozen pilgrims were charred to death and 44 injured when a bus carrying them collided with a truck and burst into flames at Behraich in Uttar Pradesh at around 10:30 PM last night.

The bus carrying nearly 80 pilgrims from Ambedkar Nagar, was heading to Ajmer Sharif when it met with the head-on collision with the truck on Gonda-Bahraich road near Chilwaria Villageand caught fire.

Some pilgrims managed to get out of the bus. Injured persons were taken to hospital.

Rescuers used gas-cutters to cut open the twisted metal of the bus to pull out bodies and injured persons from inside the vehicle.

District Magistrate Kinjal said eight bodies have been recovered from inside the bus and 44 injured people were taken to nearby hospital.

She said the condition of two pilgrims was serious and they were referred to Shahuji Maharaj Medical College in Lucknow.