NEW DELHI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- As many as six pilgrims, including three women, were killed and three others seriously injured when a bus hit them in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu Tuesday.

According to a local police official, the group of devotees from Tirupur district of the state was on a going on foot to a hill shrine in Palani area of Dindigul district, when the bus knocked them down at around 5.30 a.m.

The mishap occurred in Tirupur's Dharapuram area.

All the six died instantly, while the three injured pilgrims were admitted at a government hospital in Dharapuram, added the police official.