Three persons were killed when a sand-laden lorry and a State-run bus collided head-on, near Kallahalli Gate on National Highway 75 on Tuesday night.

The dead are bus driver Rajendra Shetty (45), lorry driver Manjunath (28) from Godasandra in Kanakapur district and Aravind Padiyar (44) from Kundapur, who is employed with a pharmaceutical company in Bangalore.

The KSRTC luxury bus, proceeding from Murdeshwar to Bangalore collided with the lorry which was transporting sand from Hassan. Shetty and Manjunath died on the spot while the lorry driver breathed his last at a private hospital where he was being treated for injuries.  Critically injured in the accident are conductor Shivashankar, passengers Dayananda, Redappa and his wife Kanta.