The private passenger bus that met with an accident early on Saturday in Maharashtra's Buldhana district, in which 25 passengers were charred to death, was less than four years old, an official of the state transport department said.

The accident occurred at Pimpalkhuta village near Sindkhedraja on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway around 1.30 am. A total of 33 persons were on board the vehicle, of whom 25 were killed, while eight others survived, police said.