Bus Accident
(Representational Image)Reuters

At least eight schoolchildren were killed when an omni van carrying students and a teacher collided with a private bus in Karnataka's Kundapur town on Tuesday morning. The passengers travelling in the bus, the driver and the conductor were unhurt.

The accident took place between 9:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. at Movadi Cross near Don Bosco High School, a police constable from the Gangolli Police Station told International Business Times India.

A total of 19 people, including 17 students, one teacher and a driver, were in the omni van at the time of accident, the constable told IBT. They belonged to Don Bosco school, he said, adding that of the eight children who died in the accident, three were killed on the spot while five died on the way to a hospital.

At least four students and a teacher have been admitted to the Chinmayi Hospital in Kundapur while the rest have been admitted to the Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, he said. The driver was seriously injured while the teacher has suffered a head injury, he added. IBT tried contacting authorities at Kasturba Hospital; however, they could not be reached. 

The Chinmayi Hospital receptionist told IBT that the injured students and the teacher were stable. The students have been identified as Deekshit, Renvil, Mellisa and Veeracrasta, and the teacher as Philomina, he said.

The constable said some others were also injured in the accident and were admitted to Kasturba Hospital in Manipal. However, he could not give any specific number of the injured people.

Earlier, media reported that at least 11 people were injured in the accident. The Hindu reported that six children were admitted to the paediatric ICU in Kasturba Hospital, while the driver of the van was also undergoing treatment at the trauma centre of the same hospital. The students were aged between seven and 13.

The bus was travelling from Bhatkal to Kundapur when it collided with the school van, according to the daily.

The children who died in the accident have been identified as Nikita, Ananya, Selista, Ansita, Alvita, Roysten, Delvin and Clarisha, the Indian Express reported.