Vaniyambadi (TN) | At least five persons were killed and about 60 passengers injured when a state government bus and an omnibus collided head-on on the Chennai-Bengaluru national highway in the wee hours of Saturday, police said.

The front portion of the two vehicles were completely smashed. Police who rushed to the spot helped the injured reach hospitals in about ten ambulances, said an official.

Four persons including a woman were killed initially when the State Express Transport Corporation bus proceeding to Chennai from Bengaluru collided with the Bengaluru-bound omnibus from Chennai at Chettiyappanur near here.

Rithika (32) of Guduvanchery, Mohammed Firoz (37) of Vaniyambadi, SETC bus driver K Elumalai (47) and B Ajith (25) of Chittoor died on the spot while the omnibus driver N Syed succumbed later, said police.

"The accident occured at about 4 am. The SETC bus hit the median and collided with the omnibus leading to the mishap," a police official said.

The injured were admitted to the Vaniyambadi government hospital in Tirupattur district and the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore.