At least nine persons, including a woman, were burnt to death and several others injured after a sleeper tourist bus carrying more than 34 passengers caught fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida in the wee hours of Thursday, trapping several passengers inside.The bus was travelling from Delhi towards Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district when the fire broke out around 11 pm in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district. Most of the passengers were asleep when the blaze erupted.Following a distress call, 8-10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.Fire personnel worked through the night to contain the blaze and rescue passengers, an official said.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Preliminary investigation, however, indicated that a short circuit in the air-conditioning system may have triggered the blaze, police said.The driver and conductor of the bus have been arrested. The Jewar police have registered a case against them under provisions relating to culpable homicide.Recounting the ordeal, a passenger said she was asleep when someone banged on the bus door. By the time she woke up, the bus was surrounded by a crowd and smoke had filled the vehicle.“I didn’t pick up any of my belongings; I didn’t even put on my shoes. I just grabbed my phone and stepped out,” she said.The passenger said there was intense pushing and shoving as people tried to escape. “Someone eventually pulled me out. I don’t remember anything else after that,” she said.Describing the scene inside the bus, she said visibility was almost zero because of the smoke and several passengers were suffocating.“Very few managed to escape, only those who could push their way out amidst the shoving,” she said, adding that several people behind her may not have been able to get out.