Chitradurga, Dec 25 || Four bodies were recovered from the bus, which caught fire after being hit by a container truck in Karnataka's Chitradurga district on Thursday.
The body of the container truck driver has also been recovered.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that three bus passengers are missing, and the police are hopeful that they are alive.
So far, five deaths have been confirmed in the incident.
Clarifying the confusion surrounding the number of deaths in the tragedy, IGP (East) B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda said, "As per the list obtained from the bus company, 32 people, including the driver and the assistant, were travelling in the bus. Twenty-five people are currently being treated in hospitals. Four bodies have been recovered from the bus, and contact has not yet been established with the remaining three persons.”
"Deaths of four passengers and the truck driver have been confirmed. All five bodies are completely charred and beyond recognition. The bodies have been sent for DNA profiling and post-mortem examination," he said.