Forty passengers, including 10 policemen, aboard an Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bus had a miraculous escape when suspected Naxalites triggered two landmines within seconds of each other at Remidicherala village in the state, police said in Guntur today.

The landmines exploded a few seconds before the bus passed over a culvert in the thickly forested village in Guntur district, a hub of the outlawed People's War faction of the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist.

The bus escaped as it had slowed down owing to a technical fault. The extremists triggered a second blast within seconds, but that too missed the bus.

The Naxalites then fired at the policemen who alighted from the bus. The policemen returned the fire. After a brief gun battle, the extremists escaped into the woods.

The policemen were returning to their camp in Venukonda town.

The extremists have already warned local people not to travel by bus.