Kolkata/UNI: A middle-aged woman burnt alive after an Odisha-bound passenger packed bus, which had also stacked firecrackers illegally, caught fire on the highway (NH41) near Kharagpur in West Bengal Friday night, police said on Saturday.

Thirty-five-year-old victim, identified as Puspanjali Das, a resident of Nolia village in Kendrapara district, was travelling on the private maxi-bus and died of burn wounds.

The bus left Babughat in Kolkata on its way toParadip suddenly caught fire on the highway near Madhapur (Kharagpur) under Paschim Medinipur district around 2130 hours on Friday.

Eyewitnesses said the fire started in the driver's cabin where the firecrackers were stacked forcing the passengers to run out of the burning bus in the dark.

The driver and his helpers were the first to get out of the burning vehicle and fled in the dark, sources said.

The bus was carrying some 40 passengers, the majority of them sustained burn wounds of various degrees.

They said the deceased, traveling along with her husband and children evacuated them first and the two elderly couples, before falling in the burning vehicle after catching flames from the firecrackers.

The injured have been admitted to the local hospitals in the districts. The Odisha government has communicated to the district administration here to evacuate the stranded and injured passengers to that state, sources added.