A Shravanabelagola-bound bus from KR Pet fell into the dry bed of a lake on Tuesday evening killing six passengers on the spot and injuring over 15 others. The accident occured at around 7 pm even as the driver was trying to negotiate the bus on the narrow tankbund.

Some people had a miraculous escape as the tank — Deveerammani kere, a km after KR Pet in Mandya district — was dry. The ill-fated KSRTC bus had more than 60 people on board when the mishap occured.

The deceased have been identified as Prakash (47) of Harirayanahalli, Govindegowda (45) of Billarahalli, Javaraiah (40) Nagamangala, Jagannath (25) Bharatipura, Pramod (23) of Dammaningala and Gopal (40) of Chikkonahalli.

Enraged by the incident, villagers took the officers who visited the accident spot to task since they had been demanding the widening of the bund road for many years now.