Passenger bus catches fire in Kazakhstan's Aktau region, 52 dead

Astana: At least 52 people have been killed after a bus caught fire in a remote part of the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

The bus was travelling along a road in Kazakhstan's north-western Aktau region that links the Russian city of Samara to Shymkent, a city in southern Kazakhstan close to the Uzbek border, reported the Independent.

The route is widely used to transport Uzbek migrant workers to and from Russia.

The Kazakh emergencies department said in a statement that only five people managed to escape.

"Five people who managed to escape are receiving medical assistance," the statement said. "The remaining 52 people died on the spot."

The survivors included three Kazakhs and two Uzbeks, reported Al Jazeera.

The cause of the fire is yet not known.