India, Oct. 26 -- As many as 19 people were charred after a bus going from Telangana's Hyderabad to Karnataka's Bengaluru burst into flames on National Highway 44 (NH-44) on the outskirts of Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool in the early hours of Friday.

Contrary to earlier reports of the bus ramming into the bike, police said probe has revealed that the bus, operated by V Kaveri Travels, had run over a bike lying on the highway after it had met a road accident, following which fire erupted in the bus, leaving little to no time for the passengers, most of whom were asleep, to escape.

The bus was also carrying a consignment of cell phones in its luggage department. Those, along with the electric batteries attached to the bus's AC system, are susp...