More than 11 people were feared dead when a container truck hit a luxury sleeper bus on National Highway 48, near Hiriyur in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district early morning on Thursday (December 25, 2025).
The bus with 32 passengers which was on its way to Gokarna was engulfted in flames under the impact of the collision and most of the deceased were burnt alive inside the vehicle, East Zone Inspector General of Police Ravikanthe Gowda said.
The bus driver and cleaner escaped. The driver of the truck and its cleaner are among the dead.
Reports says the truck driver’s negligence was the cause of the accident, which occurred on the highway that connects Bengaluru with Pune and Mumbai. The truck driver jumped a road-divider, lost control of the vehicle and collided with the oncoming bus.
