18 killed in road mishap in north Karnataka

Eighteen people, including four women and a girl, were killed Monday in a ghastly road mishap near Bijapur in northern Karnataka, about 520 km from state capital Bangalore, a senior police official said.

"The tragic incident occurred when a Trax (van) in which the victims were travelling collided head-on at a curve with a private bus from the opposite direction on National Highway (NH) 50 near Sindgi town, about 70 km from here," Bijapur superintendent of police Ajay Hilori told IANS.

Three of the 21 passengers in the ill-fated van, who survived the collision with serious injuries, were rushed to a state-run hospital in Bijapur for treatment.

The dead include the van's driver. Four people in the bus were injured. The bus driver, however, escaped from the spot soon after the mishap.

"The accident took place when the van driver overtook another vehicle ahead and got rammed by the bus from opposite side. The impact was such the mangled van got stuck under the bus, killing its passengers instantaneously," Hilori said.

The victims, belonging to two families and hailing from Sangli in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, were returning from a pilgrimage to a shrine near Gulbarga, about 160 km from Bijapur and 650 km from Bangalore.

The private bus belongs to M.R. Bus Service Ltd. and operates services across three districts of north Karnataka.

"We have registered a case under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and set up a special team to investigate the mishap," Hilori said.