Five people were killed when a container truck hit a luxury sleeper bus on National Highway 48 near Hiriyur in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district early on Thursday morning (December 25, 2025).
At first, reports said that 11 people had died in the accident. Later, Chitradurga district Superintendent of Police Ranjith Kumar Bandaru clarified that only five deaths have been confirmed so far.
The accident happened in the early hours of the morning, causing panic among the passengers on the bus. Police and rescue teams rushed to the spot soon after the crash and started rescue operations. Several people were injured and were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Police have registered a case and started an investigation to find out how the accident happened. Traffic on the highway was affected for some time but was later cleared after the damaged vehicles were removed.