At least 20 people have died and dozens have been injured after the bus bounding to Kerala from Karnataka had collided with a truck on the wee hours of Thursday in Tirupur district, Tamil Nadu, reports say.

It has been reported that a Volvo bus that was owned by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation was driving to Ernakulam, Kerala from Bengaluru, Karnataka and it was carrying 48 passengers. The reports say that around 3.15 am, the bus met with an accident in Avinashi, Tirupur district when it was en route to its destination. The unprecedented accident in recent times occurred after a truck that was traveling in the opposite direction rammed into the bus. The reports have stated that the truck with Kerala registration had lost its control and ran over the divider and collided with the bus.

The bus has been trashed as it was heavily damaged and the accident had put the death toll to 20 including the bus conductor and leaving several passengers injured and most of them are under critical condition. The rescue operations were rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies and the injured. The reports further stated that a large number of casualties are from Kerala including Ernakulam, Palakkad, and Thrissur districts.

The bus was started from Bengaluru at 8 pm on Wednesday and it was scheduled to reach Ernakulam on Thursday at 7 am. The District Collector of Tirupur said that the accident occurred in the early morning and the truck was transporting tiles and added that the bodies were sent to perform the autopsy. The reports have added that the driver of the truck was still at large and the district administration had arranged the private vehicles to transport the passengers to the hospitals in Coimbatore and Avinashi.

While addressing the Manorama News channel, Kerala Transport Minister Saseendran said that the injured passengers have been taken to the hospital and stated that the ministry had directed the Chairman and the Managing director of Kerala Road Transport Corporation to disclose the detailed report about the accident and added that the helpline number (9495099910) concerning the accident has been installed in Palakkad. According to ANI, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had directed the district collector of Palakkad to provide emergency medical care to the victims of the accident.