BENGALURU, Dec. 26 -- The night began like any other long distance journey on a Karnataka highway. Most passengers were asleep and engines hummed steadily. Then, in a matter of seconds, a speeding truck crossed the divider and turned an ordinary trip into a scene of fire, panic and loss in Chitradurga district.

Rafiq, the driver of the private bus that was hit, is now recovering in hospital with little memory of how he survived the accident. Speaking from his hospital bed, he said the truck was coming from the opposite direction at high speed.

"It was over speeding. I was maintaining a speed of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour. I saw the vehicle coming from the front. I know only the vehicle hitting the bus," he said.

The impact, according...