The bus was proceeding to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru, while the lorry was coming from the opposite direction on the Coimbatore-Salem Highway when the mishap occurred in the early hours of Thursday.
The driver of the lorry apparently lost control after the tyre burst and jumped the median and collided with the oncoming passenger bus, police said. The driver Hemaraj, a native of Ernakulam, has been arrested.