Friday, September 23 2005 19:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Texas: A bus carrying elderly evacuees from Hurricane Rita caught fire early today (Sept 23, 2005) on a grid locked highway near Dallas, killing as many as 20 people, authorities said.

"Deputies were unable to get everyone off the bus," spokesman Don Peritz said. "We believe it's going to be closer to 20 fatalities."

The bus, carrying about 45 people, was engulfed with flames, causing a 27-kilometre backup on a Interstate 45, already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast. The bus was reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell, surrounded by numerous police cars and ambulances.