KOLKATA - An irate mob broke windows of a mini-bus and set it ablaze after the vehicle ran over a youth in a West Bengal town Monday, the police said.

The incident took place Monday morning in Salkia town of Howrah district, adjoining Kolkata.

'An 18-year-old youth was run over by a speeding mini-bus in Salkia. He died on way to the hospital,' district police superintendent N.K. Singh said.

'Residents of the area rushed to the spot and broke glasses and window panes of the vehicle before setting the vehicle on fire. The police brought the situation under control after about three hours,' Singh said.

The driver and the conductor of the bus are absconding. The identity of the youth is still not known, the police said.

According to eyewitnesses, the accident occurred when two buses were trying to overtake each other.

'Two buses - a private bus and the mini-bus were trying to overtake each other. The youth was cycling down the same road. The mini-bus lost control and hit the cycle,' Ratan Sikdar, an eyewitness, said.

The mini-bus was going from Bhatnagar in Howrah to Dharamtala in central Kolkata.