Chitradurga : Fifteen persons were killed and 20 others injured today when a truck rammed into two overcrowded autorickshaws carrying labourers and a van at Rampura, 60 km from here, police said.

The truck first hit an autorickshaw and then ran into another one after dashing against a van as one of its tyres burst, the police said.

The victims killed in the mishap included eight men and seven women, all hailing from Kalaburagi district in north Karnataka and were travelling in the autorickshaws. Among the injured, seven were travelling in the van and the remaining ones in the autorickshaws.

The injured have been hospitalised in Ballari.