Five passengers dead, 6 injured after bus crashes into parked truck near Hiriyur

CHITRADURGA: Five people died and six people were seriously injured after a KKRTC bus (KA 36 F 1628) rammed into a parked truck on NH-150A near Gollahalli in Hiriyur taluk early on Monday. The bus was on its way to Bengaluru from Raichur.

The deceased were identified as Parvathamma (45) of Bengaluru, Ramesh (40) of Maski in Raichur district, Narasappa (5) Ravi (23) of Alapura and Mabamma (35). While the first two died on the spot, two others died on the way to hospital while Mabamma died in hospital without responding to treatment. Due to the impact, the left portion of the bus was completely mangled.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in Chitradurga, Challakere and Hiriyur. It is being said that the bus driver was drowsy and the passengers were also asleep. They were woken up with a rude shock when the bus collided with the truck.

The truck was abandoned some distance away from the accident spot.

“There was only one driver and he may have been drowsy. He was also driving very rashly. Some of us told him to drive slowly, but he didn’t listen to us”, said Sangamesh, one of the injured passengers who is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

The bus driver claimed that the truck had no indicators on.

The bus driver, meanwhile, claimed that the truck had no indicators switched on. “We started from Maski. I helped shift the injured to hospitals and put the other passengers into other buses belonging to our division”.

The truck driver abandoned the vehicle a little distance ahead and fled. Superintendent of Police Kumaraswamy visited the spot and a case has been registered at the Aimangala police station.