Chitradurga: Private sleeper bus catches fire after truck crosses divider; at least 17 burnt alive
Chitradurga: At least 17 passengers were burnt alive in a horrific road accident that occurred in the early hours of Thursday near Gorlattu Cross in Hiriyur taluk of Chitradurga district on National Highway–48.
The tragedy took place when a container truck crossed the road divider and rammed into a private sleeper coach bus coming from the opposite direction. Due to the severity of the collision, the bus immediately caught fire and was engulfed in flames within minutes.
According to police, the rapid spread of fire prevented several passengers from escaping, leading to massive loss of life. Many others sustained serious injuries, and officials fear that the death toll may rise.
The truck was travelling from Hiriyur towards Bengaluru, while the bus was on its way from Bengaluru to Shivamogga. Preliminary investigations indicate that negligence on the part of the truck driver caused the accident. The truck driver, identified as Kuldeep, died on the spot.
Police stated that the sleeper coach bus had a seating capacity of 32 and was carrying 29 passengers at the time of the accident, including 15 women and 14 men. Most of the passengers were residents of Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district, while others were from Kumta and Shivamogga.
The bus driver, conductor, and a few passengers reportedly managed to escape by jumping out of the bus in time, thereby saving their lives.
The accident resulted in a massive traffic jam stretching nearly 30 kilometres on National Highway–48, with vehicles stranded for several hours.
The injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals, and the condition of some is said to be critical.
Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Ranjith visited the accident site and conducted an inspection. A case has been registered at the Hiriyur Rural Police Station, and further investigation is underway.
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SRH beat KKR by 65 runs in IPL
Kolkata (PTI): Heinrich Klaasen hit a strokeful fifty as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs in their IPL match here on Thursday.
Sent in to bat, Travis Head (46) and Abhishek Sharma (48) shared an opening stand of 82 runs off 34 balls to set up the platform, while Klaasen (52) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (39) provided the late charge as SRH posted a challenging 226 for 8.
In reply, KKR folded for 161 in 16 overs with Angkrish Raghuvanshi top-scoring with a 29-ball 52.
For KKR, Blessing Muzarabani (4/41), Vaibhav Arora (2/47) Kartik Tyagi (1/48) and Anukul Roy (1/16) shared the wickets.
For SRH, Jaydev Unadkat (3/21) snapped three wickets, while Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/17) and Eshan Malinga (2/14) picked two wickets each.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 226 for 8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52; Blessing Muzarabani 4/41).
Kolkata Knight Riders: 161 all out in 16 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 52; Jaydev Unadkat 3/21, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2/17, Eshan Malinga 2/14).
