Bengaluru: KSRTC bus-lorry crash kills one

BENGALURU: A lorry driver was killed while 28 other passengers sustained injuries after a KSRTC bus collided head-on with a lorry at Marasandra on Yelahanka-Doddaballapura Road near Rajanukunte on the city outskirts on Friday morning. Among the injured, the condition of five people is said to be critical.

The deceased has been identified as Anand, 23, a native of Mulabagilu in Kolar district. The bus driver Manjunath, passengers Marappa, Gowhar Khan, Manjunath and Akbar, who were among the injured are said to be critical and are undergoing treatment in the ICU of a hospital near Yelahanka.

The other injured have been identified as bus conductor Shivakumar, passengers Divya, Sarojamma, Ashwath, Nisar Ahmed, Nanjappa, Gangarajamma and Abdul. Some of those, who sustained minor injuries, were treated as outpatients.

Police said the KSRTC bus had left the Majestic bus station at 10.15 am and was going towards Doddaballapura. Around 11.45 am, when the bus reached Marasandra village, the driver lost control over the vehicle while overtaking another vehicle and rammed into the lorry coming in the opposite direction.

Due to the impact, the front portion of both the bus and the lorry was badly damaged and the lorry driver got stuck inside the cabin and died on the spot. The lorry was loaded with cement bags and was coming to Bengaluru from Doddaballapur.

“Soon after the accident, local residents rushed to the rescue of the injured and informed the police. Most of the injured were rushed to the hospital by the locals. Due to the accident, the traffic on the Doddaballapur Road was thrown out of gear for more than three hours. It was cleared only after the police managed to remove the damaged vehicles using a crane,” the police said.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the bus driver trying to overtake another vehicle and this led to the accident,” police said. Rajanukunte police have registered a case.