In a major road accident involving multiple collisions near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, at least 15 people were killed and 30 injured, some of them grievously.

The accident occurred this evening on the Krishnagiri-Bengaluru National Highway in which an Erode-bound truck from neighbouring Karnataka is said to have suffered a tyre burst (at a village called Melamalai).

The driver is reported to have lost his control, breached the highway median and collided with a private bus coming from the opposite direction bound to Malur in Karnataka and also a car. The truck and the bus got toppled due to the impact of the collision.

10 passengers of the bus and the truck driver and its attendant died on the spot. The fire personnel who rushed to the spot retrieved the bodies. The injured were rushed to Krishnagiri General Hospital.

Some of them were later taken to Bengaluru for treatment. As the traffic got affected due to the accident, vehicles were diverted to alternate routes. The police are inquiring into the incident.