Bangkok: Twenty migrant workers from Myanmar were killed when their bus caught fire in northwestern Thailand on Friday, the police said.

The workers were travelling to a factory district near Bangkok when their chartered bus was engulfed in flames around 1.30 a.m. in Tak Province, the Bangkok Post reported.

The double-decker bus was carrying 47 Myanmar workers, out of which 27 managed to escape the inferno, said Col. Krissana Pattanacharoen, a Royal Thai Police spokesman.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, he said. Initial reports said that the engine of the bus caught fire which spread quickly through the vehicle.

Police said the fire was so intense that identifying the dead would require experts. One officer at the scene told the daily that he could not distinguish between male and female corpses.

The authorities were planning to interview the driver, who survived the fire.

The workers who were killed on Friday had passed the lengthy new registration process to work in the country, reports said.

Thailand has the world's highest rate of road traffic deaths, according to World Health Organisation data from 2013. In 2015, it was found to have the second highest road fatality rate behind Libya.

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Varanasi: Comedian Shyam Rangeela has finally filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency on Tuesday, May 14, the last day of filing papers.

Rangeela, who intended to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged on Monday that he was being denied a nomination from the seat, as he along with several other candidates were reportedly made to wait for filling papers on May 10th and May 13th.

Shyam Rangeela, taking to his official ‘X’ handle, wrote, "With your love and support, I have completed all the requirements as per the rules and submitted the nomination. I also have full faith in the democracy of this country. Now the next two-three days are crucial. Thank you all very much for your cooperation. My electoral future rests in the hands of all election officials who are the custodians of our democracy. With the hope that they all strengthen our faith, Yours Shyam Rangeela.”

Alongside, Shyam, BJP candidate Narendra Modi, Log Party's Vinay Kumar Tripathi, BJP's Surendra Narayan Singh, independent candidates Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Reena Rai, Neha Jaiswal, Ajit Kumar Jaiswal, Ashok Kumar Pandey, Sandeep Tripathi filed their nomination papers on Tuesday.

According to the Election Commision of India, a total of 41 candidates have filed nomination papers from the Varanasi constituency.