CHENNAI, July 14 -- Six people, including a bystander, died and 22 others were injured after a private omnibus collided head-on with a state transport corporation bus early on Monday in Madurai district, police said.

A senior police officer said the incident occurred near Kottampatti at around 4 am. The driver of the private bus, which was on its way to Marthandam in Kanyakumari district from Chennai, lost control of the vehicle and hit the government bus that was coming in the opposite direction from Madurai to Tiruchirappalli.

The deceased were identified as P Anandaraj (46), G Surya (29) and K Mohammed Yasin, passengers on the government bus, J Siripushpam (56) and J Abraham (40), passengers on the private bus, and C Perumal (71), wh...