Eight people were killed and over 20 others injured in an accident involving a private bus and a truck on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass road near here, during the early hours of Tuesday, police said.
Expressing pain over the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured while Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced Rs 5 lakh each to the family of deceased.
The bus was heading from Kolhapur in Maharashtra to Bengaluru, while the truck was coming in the opposite direction. The incident occurred when the bus driver allegedly lost control while trying to overtake a tractor and hit the truck head-on, police said.
Six people died on the spot and two subsequently succumbed to injuries in hospital, they said, adding, the deceased include two drivers of the bus and the truck driver. The injured have been shifted to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospital in Hubballi.
Those with minor injuries left the hospital after getting the required treatment; some of them went back to Kolhapur, officials said. "Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap in Hubli, Karnataka. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon: PM @narendramodi," PMO India tweeted.
"An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives due to the mishap in Hubli. The injured would be given Rs 50,000: PM @narendramodi," another tweet said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Bommai, who is in Davos to take part in the World Economic Forum meet, in a tweet while expressing grief over the loss of lives, thanked the Prime Minister for the ex-gratia. "Along with this, I have directed officials to give Rs 5 lakh each from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund," he said.
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