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New Delhi: Over 10 people were charred to death in a highway accident in Karnataka early Thursday morning. The accident happened when a speeding truck rammed into a luxury private sleeper bus on National Highway-48 in Chitradurga. The bus caught fire due to the huge impact. The incident took place around 2 am when passengers were asleep, and got trapped in the blaze.
The driver of the private sleeper bus involved in the fatal crash has survived to tell how the accident happened. He said he made desperate bid to control the vehicle after noticing an speeding truck hurtling towards him from the opposite direction, but the collision could not be avoided.
Despite the driver’s attempts to avoid the oncoming truck, the crash turned fatal, as a fire broke out. Rafiq, the bus driver who is undergoing treatment, said: "The truck came from the other side of the road divider and hit the bus. It was overspeeding. I was maintaining the speed of 60-70 (km/hr) at that time. I saw the vehicle coming from the front. I know only the vehicle (truck) hitting the bus, after that I don't know what happened and how I was brought out."
Recalling the moment, he added: "I tried to control the bus, on seeing the vehicle coming from the opposite direction. My bus even grazed another vehicle, which was moving beside us; I don't know what vehicle it was. But, couldn't (control)."
Mohammed Sadiq, the bus cleaner who sustained minor injuries and is undergoing treatment, said he was thrown out of the vehicle due to the force of the impact. He recounted that the truck coming from the opposite direction rammed straight into the diesel tank. "I was asleep in the front of the bus when the accident happened, and the impact threw me out after the glass of the bus shattered.”
A senior official reportedly suggested that the impact on the diesel tank might have led to a leak, which could possibly have triggered the fire. Ravikant Gowda, Inspector General of Police, said a few passengers managed to escape the raging blaze.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has underlined that a proper investigation will be carried out into the Chitradurga bus accident. Taking to X, he said: "My heart shook hearing the news of the horrific accident between a lorry (container truck) and a bus near Chitradurga in which many passengers were burnt alive. It is regrettable that the journey of those who were going home for the Christmas holidays ended in such a tragedy."
