BENGALURU, Dec. 27 -- The death toll from the fiery collision involving a private sleeper bus and a container truck in Chitradurga district on Thursday rose to 7 on Friday after the bus driver died while undergoing treatment, police said.

The driver, Mohammed Rafeek, 38, was critically injured when the bus he was driving was struck by a container truck near Javanagondanahalli early on Thursday. A resident of Hulagur village in Haveri district's Shiggaon taluk, Rafeek was initially treated at a hospital in Hiriyur before being shifted to the Chitradurga Government Hospital, they added.

"He was later taken by his relatives to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences in Hubballi, where he died early Friday morning," said Chitradurga sup...