Three reported dead, 22 injured after bus hits truck near Chitradurga

The bus driver died at the scene; two passengers died later during treatment at Chitradurga district hospital, according to the latest published account of a state transport bus collision near Mallapura in Karnataka. For two other passengers, reported critically injured, no later medical update has established how they are doing. ¹

Three people are reported dead and 22 injured after the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus struck a truck on the outskirts of Chitradurga on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Those figures come from the Times of India’s evening report. They have not been independently corroborated by an accident-specific police or hospital statement, and should not be read as a confirmed final toll. ¹

The bus was travelling from Hosapete toward Chitradurga city when it hit a truck moving ahead of it on the ring road near Mallapura. The report places the collision at about 1:20 p.m. Indian Standard Time: a daylight crash, several hours before the evening account was published. ¹

The hospital remains central to what happens next. The Times of India reported that 22 injured passengers were taken to the district hospital and, citing police, identified Raju Naik and Tabreesh as critically injured. That describes their condition in the evening account, not a subsequently verified assessment. There is no established later update on whether either passenger’s condition has changed. ¹

The afternoon tally is an earlier account, not the latest count. TV9 Kannada and Vishwavani also reported two deaths and more than 15 injuries. The later Times of India report describes the driver dying at the scene and two passengers dying during treatment, but independent confirmation of its higher figures remains missing. ^{1 3 4 11}

The later report provisionally identifies the driver as Bapugowda G Halli, 39, from PH Nandyal village in Basavanabagewadi taluk of Vijayapura district. Public TV’s October 22 account instead names the driver as Bapu Patil, 36. No clarification establishes that these are names for the same man, so neither the identity nor the age can safely be reconciled by assumption. ^{1 4}

The Times of India identifies the passengers who died during treatment as Gagan, 17, from Kudligi, and Govind Gowda Hanumanthe Gowdra, 24, from Hanagunda. Gagan’s age also differs between accounts: Public TV gives it as 14. These are provisional identifications, with that discrepancy still unresolved. ^{1 4}

These differences matter beyond the accuracy of a casualty list. A later publication can supersede an earlier toll without automatically settling every name and age it carries. Until an authoritative identification resolves the differences, the two driver names should not be treated as proven aliases, nor should one reported age silently replace another.

The location is clearer at the village level than at the highway number. Reports converge on the Mallapura area outside Chitradurga, but the Times of India calls the road National Highway 50, while Public TV, TV9 Kannada, Vishwavani and Asianet Suvarna describe it as National Highway 13. No authoritative clarification, kilometre marker or coordinates establish whether those labels refer to the same stretch. ^{1 3 4 5 11}

Chitradurga Rural police registered a case, and circle inspector Balachandra Naik visited and inspected the scene, according to the Times of India. The investigation was underway; no verified subsequent finding establishes the cause, a charge or responsibility for the collision. ¹

The reported sequence establishes that the bus struck the truck ahead. It does not establish why the vehicles collided or, by itself, assign legal responsibility to either driver. Describing the impact is necessary; treating that description as the result of the investigation would go further than the evidence permits.

The most urgent outstanding answer is medical: whether the two passengers reported critical survive. Alongside that are the basic confirmations still owed to the public—a verified casualty count, settled identities and a police account of what caused the collision. No scheduled hospital update or police briefing has been established.