At least 30 people were killed when a traveling bus collided head-on with a truck in Indian Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, police said.

Most passengers have boarded the bus at Mumbai. The death toll was earlier put at 22.

The bus was on its way from Mumbai to Ahmedabad when it collided with a truck. It immediately caught fire. Most deaths occurred not due to accidental injuries but by burning. Twenty-two people were killed in the crash and eight people later died of burns in the hospital, a police source said.

The identification of the dead is on. DNA tests may be conducted to ascertain the identity, it is further reported.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Chief Minister has announced a grant of Rs 50,000 (US$1136) to the next kin of the dead.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2005)