At least 15 people were killed and 40 others injured after a bus carrying them collided with a truck on highway in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa.

The bus, with about 100 passengers onboard, was on its way to Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur when it collided with a stationary truck near Suhagi Pahari in Rewa late last night.

While the injured people were rushed to a hospital in Suhagi, those with critical injuries are being treated in Rewa's Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, officials said.

The truck was stranded on the highway because it had an accident with another truck, officials said. The bus then rammed into the truck from behind. 

Navneet Bhasin, Rewa Superintendent of Police, said most of the people travelling in the bus were labourers from Uttar Pradesh, who had boarded the bus from Madhya Pradesh's Katni.

The labourers had come to Katni from Hyderabad in a separate bus, officials said, adding that they were heading home for Diwali. 

Sources say some passerby had informed the police about the accident.

Police said a case has been registered and investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of accident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of ₹ two lakh each for the families of people who died in the accident. The critically injured will be given ₹ 50,000 each.

His Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, has also expressed anguish over the accident. Arrangements are being made by the Rewa district administration to send the bodies to their family members in Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister's office said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled the loss of lives in the accident