At least four persons, including a woman and a child, were charred to death on Saturday evening in a fire after two trucks collided in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, police said.
The two trucks were carrying highly inflammable cargo when they collided on a bypass, about 10 km off the district headquarters, Rewa range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Saket Pandey told PTI.
The grim scene required the use of gas cutters to extract the bodies from the mangled and gutted vehicles. Among the victims were a truck driver and cleaner, along with a local woman and her 10-year-old child, who succumbed to the flames, he said.
According to initial findings, one of the drivers leapt out from his vehicle when its brakes failed before the collision.
"A search is on to nab the driver," the DIG said.
The investigation into the incident is going on, as authorities are trying to identify the deceased persons and their ages.