At least 20 people were killed and about two dozen injured early Monday when a truck carrying concrete stone chips rammed into a passenger bus in southern India’s Telangana state, local authorities said.
The state-run transport bus, carrying around 70 passengers bound for Hyderabad, collided head-on with the truck near Chevalla town, district official K. Chandrakala told The Associated Press.
The front of the bus was completely crushed, trapping several passengers inside. Rescue teams and police rushed to the scene to extricate the victims.
Rajendra Prasad, superintendent at Chevalla Hospital, said 20 bodies were sent to the mortuary and would be handed over to family members after identification.
The collision occurred barely a day after another deadly crash in western Rajasthan, where a minibus carrying pilgrims rammed into a parked truck late Sunday, killing at least 15 people and injuring two others.
Officials said the passengers were returning to Jodhpur after offering prayers at the pilgrimage town of Kolayat. Among the dead were 10 women, four children, and the driver, according to senior government official Shweta Chauhan. The injured were admitted to a local hospital.
Chauhan said the victims were trapped in the mangled wreckage of the tempo traveler minibus, while senior police officer Kundan Kanwaria noted that the driver appeared to have been overtaking another vehicle when the crash occurred.
“It seems the driver couldn’t even apply the brakes before hitting the truck,” Kanwaria said.
In India, it is common for trucks and trailers to be parked haphazardly along highways without warning lights or reflectors — a major cause of deadly nighttime accidents in recent years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, expressed condolences to the victims’ families.
The Rajasthan tragedy followed another deadly incident in the state less than three weeks ago, when a suspected electrical short circuit sparked a fire on a passenger bus, killing at least 20 people.
