Chitradurga, Dec. 25 -- Forty-two schoolchildren on an academic trip narrowly escaped a fiery crash in Chitradurga district on Thursday when a Sea Bird sleeper coach bus collided with a truck and caught fire, police said.
The school bus was travelling alongside the sleeper coach around 2 a.m. on National Highway 48 when the container truck lost control, crossed the central divider, and rammed into the sleeper bus.
The driver died in the collision. Several passengers on the sleeper bus were trapped as flames engulfed the vehicle, and more than 10 people were killed, while others sustained injuries.
Eyewitnesses said the school bus driver acted quickly, swerving sharply to the left, breaking through highway fencing, and stopping safely on ...