Hyderabad: A three-year-old boy was charred to death when a bus coming from Shirdi to Hyderabad caught fire due to short circuit at Humnabad in Karnataka near Telangana border on Friday morning.

The sleeper coach belonging to Kaveri Travels caught fire from the engine at around 6am when the passengers were still asleep. However, instead of helping passengers to escape from the bus, the driver and cleaner ran away from the spot. A nearby dhaba workers broke open the glasses and helped the passengers jump out of the bus.

In the milee, a family belonging to Tanuku in AP left behind their 3-year child Vihar in the bus and the boy died due to severe burn injuries. The family settled in Hyderabad went to Shirdi on Wednesday and was returning home. The bus started at Shirdi at 8pm on Thursday and was expected arrive in Hyderabad at 8am on Friday.

There were around 30 passengers in the AC bus, all bound for Hyderabad. Seven more passengers also were injured in the accident. The injured were treated at a hospital in Humnabad and they are out of danger.

As the bus registration number is PY 01 CK 9522, it was suspected that the fire could have occurred due to rioting in Karnataka. However, Bidar district SP Prakash Nigam confirmed that the cause of accident was short circuit in the engine. It was found that the bus did not have road fitness and a case has been booked against the management.