Three persons were killed on the spot after a speeding sports utility vehicle (SUV) rammed a KSRTC bus near Garaganahalli Gate in the taluk on Wednesday.

According to police, the deceased have been identified as Abhinash (48), Phaniraju (48) and Nidhan (40).

Abhinash and Phaniraju, both natives of Hyderabad, were working as assistant director and operations manager, respectively, with World Vision, a Christian Missionary organisation. Nidhan, the driver of the SUV hailed from Dharwad.

The accident occurred when the SUV driver, in his attempt to overtake a vehicle, rammed the Airavata bus coming in the opposite direction, police said.

An eyewitness said that the KSRTC bus driver attempted to avoid collision and diverted the vehicle to a road-side farmland.

All the passengers in the bus were safe and they were taken to Mysuru by another bus. Movement of vehicles on National Highway-67 had come to a halt owing to the accident.