Police officials said the death toll may increase.

The accident happened when the people were standing beside the bus they were travelling in which had broken down.

There were more than 45 people in the bus and some got down along with the driver and helper to check on the fault.

The accident happened at around 5:30 a.m. near Hantara on Agra-Jaipur National Highway-21 of the Lakhanpur police station area. The dead included six women.  All the deceased are residents of Gujarat's Bhavnagar, said police.

According to the police, the bus was going from Bhavnagar to Haridwar via Mathura, and it suddenly broke down on the Bharatpur-Agra highway.  Other passengers, including the driver and his companion, got off the bus.  The driver and his companions were checking the fault when the truck hit them and crushed the people standing on the side.

As the bodies lay strewn on the road, the drivers of other vehicles called the police and ambulance.

The bodies have been kept in the mortuary of Bharatpur District Hospital.

At the same time, there was a jam on the highway.  Police said that it is not yet known which vehicle caused the collision. The condition of the injured remains critical.

A passenger on the bus, however, said it was a truck. He said that there was some problem in the bus at around four in the morning. "That's why the bus was standing near Hantara bridge.  The driver and another had gone to get diesel and about 10-12 passengers got down from the bus and stood behind the bus.  During this, the speeding truck crushed everyone."