TUMAKURU: Three persons died on the spot and thirteen others injured when a private bus from Belagavi rammed into a truck at Urukere on Bengaluru-Pune NH-48 near here on Sunday morning.
Two of the deceased have been identified as Ramappa Ereballi Siddappa (46) of Midanakatte in Gokak taluk, the cleaner of the bus Fazalulla (35) of Mysuru Road in Bengaluru. The third accident victim is yet to be identified, according to the police.
The driver of the bus fled the scene. The severely injured including Koteshwara Gotte Naidu and Ashwin Kumar of Bengaluru, Keerthi Rajesh and Rajesh Veeraiah couple from Hyderabad has been shifted to the district general hospital here and the rest have been sent to different hospitals in Bengaluru including NIMHANS. The driver and the cleaner of the bus also sustained injuries and have been hospitalised.
The Bengaluru-bound bus that belonged to Asian Tours and Travels Bengaluru in an attempt to overtake hit the rear of the multi-axle truck. There were as many as 36 passengers in the ill-fated bus.
The police suspect that since it was a late-night bus, the driver might have dozed off at the wheels.
Former minister Sogadu Shivanna who lives in the vicinity visited the spot and supervised the rescue operation, a source said.
Meanwhile, the locals seem to have a field day as they grabbed some of the things that spilt from the truck. They fled with soaps, ketchup among other edibles before a police team led by CPI Ramakrishna rushed to the spot.