2 road accidents in south India kill 26

NEW DELHI (AP) At least 26 people have died in two separate road accidents in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, police said Tuesday.

A bus and a truck carrying passengers collided in the state's Bijapur district Monday afternoon killing 18 people, said police official Ajay Hilori.

The truck tried to overtake a vehicle on a curved road and crashed into the bus coming from the opposite direction.

Hilori said the truck had a capacity of 16 passengers, but was carrying 22. The crash killed four woman and 14 men on the truck, he said. Four others were injured, one of them critically. The bus passengers escaped with minor injuries.

In another accident, an overcrowded bus veered off the road and plunged into a lake, killing eight people in Hassan district in Karnataka on Tuesday.

Local residents and police rescued most of the people in the bus while a few passengers swam to safety, said Ramalinga Reddy, Karnataka's transport minister. Dozens of survivors had minor injuries, Reddy said.

The bus had a capacity of 50 passengers but was carrying 62 people when the accident happened Tuesday.

Reddy said the bus driver swerved to avoid a scooter and lost control of the vehicle, which plowed into the lake.

India has the world's deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.