Karnataka: 15 dead after bus falls into canal in Mandya

Mandya, Nov 24: Fifteen people died after a bus fell into a canal on Saturday in Karnataka’s Mandya. The accident took place in Mandya, 105km from Bengaluru.

The death toll is likely to rise. The bus was completely submerged in water. Visuals from the site of the accident showed locals using ropes to try and pull the bus out from the water body in the middle of what appears to be a field.

Divers, senior police officers and the personnel from the fire and emergency services have rushed to the spot for the rescue operation. According to eyewitnesses, the bus was going at a high speed and the driver lost control, leading to the accident.



Chief Minister Kumarswamy expressed shock over the accident. He has cancelled all his scheduled programmes for the day and will go visit the accident spot. He has asked the district commissioner and district in-charge minister C S Puttaraju to look into rescue operations.

This is the second such incident in eight days. Earlier, at least six tourists died and more than 10 were critically injured in a road accident near Hubli on National Highway 63.

The accident took place when a bus, carrying a team of Mumbai based travelers, had a head-on collision with a lorry. Six of the tourists, who were headed to Hampi, died at the spot.