<p>Thirty-one children were burned to death when a bus they were traveling in caught fire in northern Colombia today, the Red Cross said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Another 25 people - including one adult - were injured and seriously burned in the accident near the town of Fundacion, Cesar Uruena with the Colombian Red Cross told AFP.<br /><br />"The injured have second and third-degree burns, and many are still in a critical condition" in hospitals in the area and in the city of Santa Marta, Urena said.<br /><br />The children aboard the bus were between the ages of one and eight and were returning home after a religious service, Fundacion Mayor Luz Stella Duran told reporters.<br /><br />Department of Magdalena police told AFP that the bus exploded around noon, and that the fire was so severe they had problems determining the number of casualties.<br /><br />Stella Duran said that - according to survivors - the bus driver had been handling a container with gasoline aboard the vehicle. Police initially blamed the fire on a mechanical problem.<br /><br />The driver has vanished, and angry locals went to his home and threw rocks at his windows, the mayor said.<br /><br />Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to Fundacion after a final re-election campaign rally today in Bogota ahead of the May 25 presidential vote.</p>
<p>Thirty-one children were burned to death when a bus they were traveling in caught fire in northern Colombia today, the Red Cross said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Another 25 people - including one adult - were injured and seriously burned in the accident near the town of Fundacion, Cesar Uruena with the Colombian Red Cross told AFP.<br /><br />"The injured have second and third-degree burns, and many are still in a critical condition" in hospitals in the area and in the city of Santa Marta, Urena said.<br /><br />The children aboard the bus were between the ages of one and eight and were returning home after a religious service, Fundacion Mayor Luz Stella Duran told reporters.<br /><br />Department of Magdalena police told AFP that the bus exploded around noon, and that the fire was so severe they had problems determining the number of casualties.<br /><br />Stella Duran said that - according to survivors - the bus driver had been handling a container with gasoline aboard the vehicle. Police initially blamed the fire on a mechanical problem.<br /><br />The driver has vanished, and angry locals went to his home and threw rocks at his windows, the mayor said.<br /><br />Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to Fundacion after a final re-election campaign rally today in Bogota ahead of the May 25 presidential vote.</p>