At least 28 wedding guests have been killed in India after their bus ran into a power cable in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

"There was a metal cabinet on top of the bus which came in contact with a high-voltage power cable, resulting in the electrocution of 28 of the wedding guests," KK Sharma, the police chief, said on Friday.

He said that the accident occurred in the state's remote Mandla district, some 450km from Bhopal, the state capital.

Ravi Kumar Gupta, a senior local policeman, said that 23 women, three boys and two men were killed in the accident. Five people were injured and admitted to hospital.

The incident took place when the guests of a wedding party were returning to their village, but the wedding couple was travelling in a separate vehicle.

Police said that the driver of the bus survived the accident and ran away, but was later captured.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, chief minister of the state, ordered an inquiry into the accident and announced compensation of $2,200 for each family of the deceased.

In a similar accident on Thursday, 10 people returning from a cremation were electrocuted when a live power cable fell on their bus in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.