Mumbai/UNI: Leader of opposition in Maharashtra legislative assembly Ajit Pawar on Saturday expressed shock at the bus accident at Buldhana-Sindkhed Raja on the Samruddhi highway in which 25 bus passengers were killed.

In a tweet message, Pawar stated after the tyre of the bus burst on the Samruddhi highway, the vehicle caught fire after hitting a divider and a pillar. After this terrible accident, the issue of safety of vehicles and passengers on the Samruddhi Highway has again come to the fore,he said.

Pawar pointed out that the state government needs to take immediate measures with the advice of experts.

''I offer my heartfelt condolences to the passengers who lost their lives in today's horrific bus accident.

"There has been a series of accidents on the Samriddhi Highway since the beginning. Many citizens have lost their lives in this accident. These accidents have been repeatedly proven to be due to faulty construction of the Samriddhi Highway and human error,'' he stated.

'' On behalf of the opposition parties, the demand to take urgent measures has been continuously made. We demand that the government should consider this demand seriously, '' tweeted Pawar.

As many as twenty-five bus passengers were charred to death after the vehicle caught fire on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district on Saturday, a senior police official told UNI.

According to the official, the private travel bus was on its way from Nagpur to Pune when it rammed into a divider and its tyre burst and hit a pole and caught fire around 1.30 am near Sindkhedraja in Buldhana district.

Total 33 passengers were travelling in the bus, out of which 25 were charred to death, the official said.

The eight passengers who survived were rushed to nearby hospital and they are safe, he said.

Many of the passengers hailed from Nagpur, Wardha and Yavatmal.There are 3 children among those who died, and the rest are adults, he added.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his condolences to the families of 25 persons who lost their lives in the tragic accident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the relatives of each victim.