Karnataka Bus Tragedy: Bus Driver Recalls Deadly Crash, Says 'I Saw Overspeeding Truck Hitting My Bus'

Nine people were killed, and 21 were injured after a sleeper bus caught fire following a collision with a truck in Chitradurga, Karnataka. The truck driver also died, and survivors recounted the terrifying moments leading up to the crash.

In a tragic accident in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, nine people were burned alive, and 21 others were injured after a Sea Bird sleeper coach bus caught fire following a collision with a truck in the early hours of Thursday. The bus driver, Rafeeq, who survived and is now receiving treatment in the hospital, recounted the terrifying moments leading up to the crash. “I was driving the bus at a speed of around 60 to 70 kmph. All I remember is a container truck coming and hitting my vehicle. I tried to control the bus, but it was not possible. Even as I attempted to steer aside, another bus was moving in the adjacent lane. I don’t know what happened after that. I don’t remember how I got out,” he said.

The bus assistant, Mohammad Sadiq, also survived and provided a description of the incident. “We left Bengaluru around 9 p.m. There were 30 passengers on board. I was sleeping when the incident occurred. The truck hit the diesel tank. Due to the impact, I was thrown out of the bus. The driver was also thrown out,” he said.

Eyewitness to the accident, the driver of the school bus, which later collided with the burnt bus involved in the accident, says, "... This tanker jumped on us from the other side, that tanker hit the bus, that sleeper bus hit us (school bus). We were going from Bengaluru to Dandeli... No children were injured on the bus. Then we heard people screaming. The other bus caught fire by that time. We helped some people, but we couldn’t do anything after the blast..."

IGP (East) B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda confirmed that 42 schoolchildren travelling in another bus on an academic trip narrowly escaped the accident. “It is sheer luck. The bus carrying schoolchildren on a tour to Dandeli was travelling next to the bus that caught fire. It was hit by the sleeper coach bus, but the driver managed to swerve to the extreme left, break through the highway fencing, and come to a halt on the service road. None of the children were injured,” he said.

Authorities made alternate arrangements for the children to continue their tour, which has now resumed. IGP Gowda added, “The tragedy is unfortunate. A detailed investigation will be taken up.”

Eyewitnesses said the school bus driver rescued several passengers trapped inside the bus. Due to the intensity of the fire, several bodies were severely charred.

According to police, the collision occurred around 2 a.m. at Javanagondanahalli village near Gorlattu Cross on National Highway 48, when a truck coming from the opposite direction crossed the central divider and rammed into the bus after losing control. The truck driver, identified as Kuldeep, died in the accident. Several passengers on the bus managed to escape before the vehicle was engulfed in flames.

The authorities are continuing rescue and investigation efforts to determine the full cause and sequence of events in the deadly incident.

(With IANS inputs)