Date:14/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/14/stories/2008101454350600.htm

Karnataka

10 killed, 23 injured as 2 buses collide in Kolar

Special Correspondent

6 injured persons in a serious condition
5 passengers, driver killed on the spot

CHICKBALLAPUR: As many as 10 people were killed and 23 injured, six of them seriously, after two Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses collided on National Highway 4 in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district in the early hours of Monday.

The police said the accident occurred around 2 a.m. between Hanumanahalli and Mallappanahalli villages, 13 km from Mulbagal town.

Of the 10 killed, nine were passengers of a Volvo bus that was bound for Chennai from Bangalore. The other victim was travelling by an ordinary KSRTC bus that was on its way to Bangalore from Tirupati. The driver of the Bangalore-bound bus was trying to avoid a crater on the highway, which is being widened, when the accident occurred. The impact of the collision was such that the driver of the Volvo bus and five passengers were crushed to death instantaneously. Four of the injured died at R.L. Jalappa Hospital.

The condition of six of the injured is critical, and one of them has been shifted to NIMHANS in Bangalore, the police said. The KSRTC has announced an ad hoc compensation of Rs. 15,000 each to the families of the dead and Rs. 5,000 each to the injured.

The families of the dead would get a compensation of Rs. 2.5 lakh each within a fortnight.