QUETTA, April 26: Bodies of all the 15 victims of a fire triggered by an arson attack on a bus in Sibi area were sent to their native areas in Sindh and Balochistan on Tuesday.

Fifteen people, mostly women and children, were burnt to death late on Monday night when armed men set the Quetta-bound passenger coach on fire in Pirak area, a locality on the outskirts of Sibi town.

“All the people were burnt alive on the spot,” Sibi Deputy Commissioner Naseer Ahmed Nasar said, adding that the victims included five members of a family belonging to Thul area of Sindh.

Eleven bodies were sent to their respective areas while four were buried in the Sibi graveyard for a temporary period until their heirs came to take the bodies.

“Most of the bodies burnt were beyond recognition,” hospital sources said, adding that no injured person was brought to the Sibi hospital.

No one has claimed responsibility of torching the bus so far.

The bus, coming from Peshawar, was parked at a roadside hotel when the armed men set it on fire.

Most the male passengers remained safe because they were outside the bus and were sitting in the hotel taking tea while some others saved their lives by jumping out of the burning bus.

Official sources said that police and Levies were investigating the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire.

“Soon we will be able to tell the real cause of the incident,” a senior police officer claimed, adding that police were investigating all aspects of the case.

Witnesses said that four people suddenly appeared on the site, fired bullets at the bus. Two of the attackers entered the bus, sprinkled petrol and set it on fire.

“The fire was so huge and no one could enter the bus to rescue women and children crying for help,” they said.

The sources said that police and Levies had raided several places in the area and took three suspects into custody who were being interrogated by a team of law-enforcement agencies.

The victims of the tragic incident belonged to Quetta, Thul, Jacobabad, Kandhkot, Saleempur, Sukkur and Ghotki.

They were identified as Nazeer Ahmed, Abdul Rasheed, Bashir Ahmed, Dib Mohammad, Dora Khan, Imran, Bibi Fatima, Mai Sakina, Qambar, Gharsheen, Noorzadi, Gang Peri, Garannaz, Shawar Kumar and Tepal Kumar.