MYSURU: Five people were killed and at least 10 injured after a KSRTC bus and a rice-laden truck collided head-on on the Mysuru-Bantwal Highway at Madhugiri Koppalu village near here around 6 am on Wednesday.
The deceased have been identified as bus driver Sadashiva (37) of Huduganahalli village in K R Pet, conductor Devaraju (38) of Harihar, lorry driver Anji of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, cleaner Ramanji of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and passenger Ramappa.
The bus driver had joined the service only seven months back.
The injured belong to Virajpet and Hunsur and one of them is identified as Ankit, an engineering student at SJCE in Mysuru. Both is his legs are crushed in the accident. Police said the accident occurred when the bus was overtaking a car and poor visibility was one of the reasons for the mishap. While the bus was proceeding towards Bengaluru from Virajpet, the Andhara Pradesh registered lorry was heading towards Hunsur.
Such was the impact of the accident that the truck crashed upto the second row of the passenger seats of the bus killing the bus driver, lorry driver, its cleaner and a passenger on the spot.
The bus conductor who was sitting on the seat beside the driver died on the way to hospital. Police and the public had a harrowing time in removing the bodies. The injured have been admitted to KR Hospital and private hospitals of city.
Police said the two vehicles were moving at 70-80 km per hour when the accident occurred. Before joining KSRTC as a driver, Sadashiva, attached to H D Kote depot, was driving trucks and tempos.
Traffic on the road was disrupted for more than two hours after the accident. The police diverted the traffic through nearby villages. The villagers scrambled for rice bags that were strewn all over the accident spot before the police arrived on the spot.
Two die as car rams bike
Tumakuru: A man and his friend died in a mishap at Tiptur on Bengaluru-Honnavara highway late Tuesday night. The deceased were identified as Jagadish (32) and Eishwarya (21), a BSc student. They were on their way to Tiptur from Arasikere when a car from Bengaluru rammed into their bike. Jagadish was a married man and his relationship with the girl has to be established, the police said. The car has been seized and the driver has been booked for rash and negligent driving.