Balangir, May 23: Five persons, including a child, were charred to death after a bus they were travelling on crashed into a roadside tree and caught fire after contacting a high-tension electric wire at Puintala on the outskirts of Balangir early this morning.

The bus, belonging to the state-run Odisha State Road Transport Corporation, was on its way from Bhubaneswar to Khariar in Kalahandi when the incident occurred.

Eyewitnesses said the mishap took place around 3am when the driver lost control and hit against a neem tree just outside the Puintala block office. The bus then caught fire as it came in contact with the live electric wire.

“I heard a loud sound when I was asleep at home and came out to see what had happened. I saw the bus had collided with the tree and had already caught fire. The bus was burning and the passengers were crying for help,” said an eyewitness, Sukanta Pradhan.

“I had dosed off. When I woke up, I saw smoke and fire inside the bus. Local residents broke the windowpanes and brought us out. Those who could not come out were burnt alive,” said one of the passengers. Police and fire officials reached the spot within 30 minutes. Rescue operations were hampered because it was too dark.

Of the five deceased, three have been identified as Kamala Agrawal, 60, of Boudh, her granddaughter Auli Jain, 6, of Rupra Road and Sachindra Patra, 46, of Patnagarh.

Forty other passengers were injured in the accident. The condition of 14 of them are said to be serious. They have been admitted at the district headquarters hospital here. Two have been shifted to VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla.