GULBARGA: Sixteen people were killed and 12 others injured when their pick-up van rammed into a bus near Kudala Hangaraga village near Aland in the district early on Monday, police said.
All the victims, residents of Station Tadola village of Akkalkot taluka in Solapur district in Maharashtra, were travelling to Gulbarga to visit Khwaja Bande Nawaz dargah when their Mahindra van rammed into a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, a police official said.
As of Monday evening, 15 bodies have been identified.
The victims have been identified as Nabilal Mulla (58), Jannat Bee (35), Reshma (8), Maheboon Bee (55), Ramjan (25), Gudu (25), Basha (60), Sameer Mulla (50), Rehana Shekh Mulla (30), Mohasina Sikendar (14), Husen Madarsab Mulla (20), Mamata Maheboob Mulla (35), Nuurjahan Razak (38), Parvina Sikendar Mulla (30), Sameer Mulla (8) and van driver Kamalakar.
Ten people, including the bus driver and conductor, have been admitted to hospitals in Aland and Gulbarga for treatment, the police officials said.
Meanwhile, Gulbarga Superintendent of Police Amit Singh told Express that the van, which left Station Tadola village at around 3.30 am on Monday, collided head-on with the bus near Kudala Hangaraga village at about 4.30 am.
The impact was such that both vehicles veered off the road completely. Except for the driver and conductor, there were no other passengers in the bus, which belonged to the Sandur depot of Bellary district. The bodies were handed over to the relatives after postmortem. District In-charge Minister Qamarul Islam, IGP North-east range Suresh K Mohammed, Aland MLA B R Patil and Gulbarga SP Amit Singh visited the spot.