Phulbani: Passengers had a narrow escape when a bus hit the pavement of a bridge and stopped at Paburia, just around 3 km from G.Udayagiri, in Odisha’s Kandhamal district after the driver suffered a cardiac arrest on Friday.
The deceased driver has been identified as Sana Pradhan (52).
According to sources, the bus was heading towards Bhubaneswar from Sarangagada when the helper noticed that the driver was in some kind of pain. Sana soon collapsed after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest and the bus, luckily, then came to a halt after hitting the pavement of a bridge.
The 48 passengers were immediately rescued and the driver was rushed to Tikabali Community Health Centre (CHC) in 108 ambulance. He, however, was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.
“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 IIC of Tikabali police station Kalyanamayee Sendha.