Lucknow: Four people, including a woman and a child, were burnt alive on Tuesday when an ambulance caught fire after hitting an electric pole in Uttar Pradesh's Sonebhadra district, police said.

The accident took place at Ghorawal in Sonebhadra, 400 km from here, when the ambulance was coming to Chandauli town from the village after supplying contaceptive medicines at the community health centre and bringing back a patient and two others.

The collision sparked off a short circuit, which led to flames engulfing the vehicle even as the occupants were trapped inside. The dead included a five-year-old child, a woman, the ambulance driver and an unidentified person.

Senior officials, including the district magistrate and the chief medical officer, rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operation but no one could be saved, an official said.

The bodies have been sent for autopsy. The dead have been identified as Champa Devi, Roopa, Ram Mani and driver Keshav.