A suspected short circuit sparked a fire on a passenger bus in northern India on Tuesday, which quickly engulfed the vehicle in flames and killed at least 20 people to death, authorities said.

The bus was carrying 35 to 50 passengers and was minutes into its journey between the towns of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur in Rajasthan state when the fire broke out, local party lawmaker Mahant Pratap Puri told The Associated Press.

The bodies of 19 passengers were recovered from the bus, while one person succumbed to their burns on the way to a hospital, Puri said. At least 15 passengers were critically injured and admitted to a hospital for treatment.

Smoke began to emerge from the vehicle’s rear barely five minutes after it left Jaisalmer, Puri said. The driver managed to stop the bus along the roadside near a military station, but within moments, the flames took over the bus.

The local government asked for information from relatives to confirm the identity of victims, and planned to identify remains using DNA evidence.