Hyderabad, Mar 30 (IANS): Passengers of a TSRTC bus from Hyderabad to Vijayawada had a narrow escape when it caught fire after hitting a two-wheeler in Telangana's Suryapet district on Thursday.

'Rajdhani' bus of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), which was heading to Vijayawada from Hyderabad, hit a motorbike near Indira Nagar in Munagala mandal of Suryapet district.

The bike came under the bus and caught fire. The flames soon engulfed the bus. Passengers got down in panic. Within a few minutes, the entire bus was gutted. A fire engine rushed to the scene and doused the fire.

Murugesh Raju (48), who was riding the bike, was critically injured and succumbed while being shifted to a hospital at Suryapet.

This is the second TSRTC bus to catch fire in the same district in two days.

On Wednesday, a driver and a mechanic had a narrow escape after the bus caught fire. The incident occurred when they were taking the bus to Suryapet depot.

The bus with 20 passengers was on its way from Khammam to Hyderabad. At Suryapet, the vehicle broke down due to some mechanical problem. The TSRTC officials arranged an alternate bus for the stranded passengers.

Later, the driver along with a mechanic, managed to start the bus and decided to take it to Suryapet depot. However, after covering some distance the driver noticed smoke and alerted the mechanic. Both managed to get down before the flames engulfed the vehicle.