Vidhana Soudha official among six killed in head-on collision between KSRTC bus, car near Bengaluru

Three victims worked at Legislators' Home, 2 at Vidhana Soudha; bus driver among 13 injured.

Six passengers were killed on the spot in a head-on collision between their car and a KSRTC bus near Sathanur on the southwestern outskirts of Bengaluru on Monday, police officials said.

The collision took place near Kemmale Cross on the Bengaluru-Coimbatore national highway (948) between 4:30 pm and 5 pm. The six occupants of the Toyota Qualis (KA 01 MF 8055) were on their way to Bengaluru while the KSRTC bus was travelling from Kanakapura to Halagur, near Mandya. Going by the visible impact of the crash, police believe that both the bus and the car must have been travelling at very high speeds. They are, however, yet to determine who caused the accident.

Three of the victims — Nagesh, Govinda and Kumara — worked at a hotel in the Legislators' Home — the lodgings provided to MLAs and MLCs. The fourth victim has been identified as Puttaraju but police are still identifying his details. The fifth victim, Jyothilingappa, was a section officer in the Legislative Assembly section of the Vidhana Soudha. The last victim, Shanth Kumar, was a junior assistant at the said office, a senior officer from the Kanakapura police subdivision said. They all appeared to be friends, the police official added.

An officer from the Sathanur police station said: “From the markings on their foreheads, it appears that the car passengers were returning from the Male Mahadeshwara Hills. We have only been able to identify the victims based on the documentation on them."

Twelve passengers in the KSRTC bus were also injured, but the driver, B T Nagaraj, is reportedly in a serious condition, said the police.

A KSRTC statement identified the bus involved in the crash as KA 42/F1745, attached to the Kanakapura depot in the Ramanagar division.

The KSRTC claimed that its driver saw the Toyota Qualis hurtling towards it in the opposite direction and tried to steer the bus to the centre of the road. But the head-on collision between the two vehicles couldn't be averted, the corporation added.

The bodies have been taken to the government hospital in Kanakapura, where the injured victims are also undergoing treatment, officials said.