Odisha bus driver dies of cardiac arrest, heroic last-moment manoeuvre saves 48 passengers

Phulbani, October 28

Forty-eight passengers of an overnight bus to Bhubaneswar had a close shave as their driver, who suffered a cardiac arrest, applied his presence of mind and crashed the vehicle into a wall, bringing it to a halt before breathing his last, police said on Saturday.

The incident happened near Paburia village in Kandhamal district on Friday night, they said.

The driver of the bus, identified as Sana Pradhan, started having chest pain while driving, and lost control of the steering, they said.

“He realised that he would not be able to drive further. So, he crashed the vehicle against a roadside wall, following which it came to a stop, and the lives of the passengers could be saved,” said Kalyanamayee Sendha, the inspector-in-charge of Tikabali police station.

The private bus, ‘Maa Laxmi’, usually plies from Sarangarh in Kandhamal to state capital Bhubaneswar via G Udayagiri every night, she said.

After the incident, he was rushed to a nearby hospital but doctors there declared him dead due to cardiac arrest, police said.

The bus left with the passengers for its destination a while later with another driver at the wheel, they said.

The body of Pradhan was handed over to his family after a post-mortem examination, they added.

An investigation has also been started, Sendha said.