LUCKNOW, India (AP) - A double-decker bus caught fire on Friday (Jan 10) after ramming into a stationary truck on a highway in northern India and 20 people were feared dead, police said.

Senior police officer Mohit Aggarwal said 21 people were rescued and taken to a hospital, some of them in critical condition.

Aggarwal said the bus fire was doused and rescuers were looking for survivors.

The accident occurred near Kannauj, a town about 200km south-west of Lucknow, the state capital.

Deadly bus accidents are common in India. Around 150,000 people die every year on India's roads, often because of reckless driving, badly maintained roads and vehicles overcrowded with passengers.

In September 2018, a bus carrying pilgrims from a Hindu temple in the hills of south India plunged off a road and killed at least 55 people.