Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Friday announced that a committee of senior IAS officers, and also the Criminal Investigation Department of the state police, would probe Wednesday's bus mishap in Mahabubnagar district.

 

 The private bus, on its way to Hyderabad from Karnataka capital Bangalore, hit a culvert and burst into flames. Forty-five people died as the bus was reduced to cinders and a shell. 

 

 The committee comprising Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers would suggest measures to prevent such accidents in future, a statement from the chief minister's office said.

 

 Apart from the 45 dead, five people were injured. 

 

 The accident occurred at Palem in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. 

 

 The chief minister directed officials to complete the process of handing over the dead bodies to relatives within a week.

 

 The charred remains of the victims have been preserved in Hyderabad. Officials said they were collecting blood samples of the relatives of the victims. The bodies will be identified after DNA tests at the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory.

 

 Meanwhile, incidents of smoke from engines of buses caused panic among bus passengers at different locations in the state Friday. 

 

 A private bus going to Vijayawada was stopped on the outskirts of Hyderabad after the driver noticed smoke in the engine.

 

 Passengers of a city bus in Secunderabad ran helter-skelter after fire broke out in its engine Friday evening. An alert driver stopped the bus, averting a mishap. Fire fighting personnel rushed to the scene and doused the fire.

 

 Two buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were stopped in Nalgonda and Guntur districts after their drivers noticed fire emanating from their engines.

 

 –Indo-Asian News Service