Nine killed after truck collides with bus in Karnataka
At least nine persons were killed when a speeding truck crashed against a luxury sleeper bus, which caught fire under the impact, in this district early on Thursday, a senior police official said.
The bus with 32 passengers, which was on its way to Gokarna was engulfed in flames under the impact of the collision and most of the deceased were burnt alive inside the vehicle, East Zone Inspector General of Police Ravikanthe Gowda told reporters.
The accident happened after the truck jumped a road divider and collided with the oncoming bus, Gowda told reporters.
The bus driver and cleaner escaped. The truck driver, identified as Kuldeep, is among the dead, he added.
The bus driver said that he tried to control his vehicle on seeing the overspeeding truck approaching from the opposite direction, but couldn’t.
“The truck came from the other side of the road divider and hit. It was overspeeding. I was maintaining the speed of 60-70 (km/hr) at that time. I saw the vehicle coming from the front. I know only the vehicle (truck) hitting the bus, after that I don’t know what happened and how I was brought out,” Rafiq, the bus driver who is undergoing treatment, told reporters.
“Our preliminary investigation hints that a diesel tanker might be involved in the accident,” Gowda said.
Many passengers escaped by jumping from the bus, the Gowda said.
“Our initial investigation shows that eight passengers and the truck driver have died. Of the 12 injured, nine have been shifted to Sira and three to Tumakuru. One of the critically burnt patients has been taken to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru,” he added.
The rest of the injured are out of danger, the IGP said.