At least nine persons were killed as a bus caught fire after colliding with a lorry in Chitradurga, Karnataka on Thursday, IANS reported.

Eight passengers of the bus and the lorry driver died in the accident, which occurred on a highway near Gorlathu village at about 3 am. The bus was travelling from Bengaluru to Gokarna.

There were 32 passengers in the bus, PTI reported. The persons injured in the accident were taken to hospitals in Hiriyur town and Tumkur.

The news agency quoted Inspector-General of Police Ravikanthe Gowda as saying that the “lorry driver, coming from the opposite direction, drove recklessly and veered into the other lane, causing the collision”.

The lorry also collided with a school bus but the passengers in the school bus were not injured.