Among the dead, there are twenty-three women and two children. Five passengers jumped to safety and suffered minor injuries. The bus driver was not injured.

The high-voltage wire touched an iron wardrobe on the roof of the bus as it stopped at Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh state, said top district administrator K.K. Khare.

As passengers began stepping down while holding the steel railings, the current passed to the ground to cause a jolting electric shock in the bus, Khare said.