By Chitradurga Police on Thursday (December 25, 2025) confirmed that six people, including a five-year-old girl, were killed after a container truck rammed into a Bengaluru–Gokarna luxury sleeper bus on National Highway 48 near Javanagondanahalli in Hiriyur taluk, Karnataka.
The deceased have been identified as Bindu V, her daughter Grema (5), Manasa, Navya and Rashmi Mahale, all of whom were travelling from Bengaluru to Gokarna. The truck driver, a native of Uttar Pradesh, also died in the crash.
There were 33 passengers on board the bus. While five passengers were killed, 28 others sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment.
According to police, the truck jumped the road divider, lost control and collided head-on with the oncoming bus, which caught fire immediately after the impact. Most of the victims were burnt alive inside the bus, said East Zone Inspector General of Police Ravikanthe Gowda. The bus driver and cleaner managed to escape.
Preliminary investigations suggest truck driver negligence caused the accident on the busy highway connecting Bengaluru with Pune and Mumbai.
