BENGALURU: Tension prevailed at the Victoria Hospital mortuary where relatives of the two PUC students, who were crushed to death by a bus, shouted slogans against BMTC for its poor maintenance of vehicles as they believed that a brake failure had caused the accident. However, the BMTC bus driver reportedly told the police that he had suffered a blackout due to low blood sugar levels while driving.
Soon after the incident, rumours started flying thick and fast that the accident was caused due to brake failure while another version was that the driver was driving at a break-neck speed. However, eyewitnesses said the bus was not speeding and that it merely appeared to have gone out of control, climbing on to the footpath and mowing down the two hapless students before crashing into a compound wall.
The bus driver Lokesh, was seen limp on the steering wheel soon after the accident, which gave preliminary indications that he had sustained injuries in the crash. When police arrived at the spot, he is said to have told them that he suffered from low blood sugar and had blacked out while driving. As he has been admitted to a hospital, police said they will wait for his test reports to verify the truth as he had not sustained any grievous injuries in the accident.
Police said a team of BMTC experts also inspected the bus and they are waiting for the final report to arrive at a conclusion whether it was brake failure or health issue of the BMTC driver Lokesh.
College students in the area also protested near the accident spot over the incident, demanding action against the BMTC. The VV Puram police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjuna and officials who visited the spot, announced `10 lakh compensation to the families of each of the deceased.
Deceased student worked part-time to support parents
Bengaluru: Yadukumar,the only son of his parents, was working as an office boy in a private company in RR Nagar. “His parents Yogaraj and Mahalakshmi are specially-abled and he was doing a part-time job after attending classes. He was also funding his sister’s education with his earnings,” said Yadukumar’s uncle, Paramesh. “He left home around 7.15 am along with his neighbour, Chandrakanth. Yadukumar’s family hailed from Pandavapura in Mandya. They had come to the city 10 years ago and were living in a rented house in Bangarappa Layout. His parents are not able to bear the shock of losing their son since he was the only bread-winner of the family,” Paramesh added. Yadukumar’s last rites were performed at Chamarajpet crematorium on Tuesday evening. Chandrakanth’s body was taken to Kalaburagi.