BENGALURU: A child and a woman attender of a school had a miraculous escape after a speeding tempo crashed into their school bus on Bannerghatta and Jigani Road. The incident occurred on July 9, and the mishap, which was caught on a CCTV camera installed in the bus, went viral on Saturday. The woman attender showed great presence of mind as she rescued the child, despite being tossed violently, immediately after the tempo crashed into the bus.
Bannerghatta police, who have registered a case, said at 8.50 am, the school bus -- belonging to Ryan International School, Bannerghatta -- was picking up children. At that time, only the child and the woman attender, Sathyavathi, were in the bus.
When the bus was passing through Raagihalli Gate, a speeding tempo came from the left and rammed into it. The bus toppled in the middle of the road and Sathyavathi, who was violently tossed, fell near the child. Remarkably, she kept her wits about her and grabbed the child and came out of the bus.
Passersby tried to catch the driver of the tempo and gave a chase, but he managed to flee. The police have yet to arrest him and they have established his identity after the incident. Speaking to the reporter, school bus driver Gopal, who was injured in the incident, said, “I was going to Begenahalli to pick up six children and the boy, Keerthan, had boarded the bus just five minutes back.
My wife Sathyavathi and me have been working at the school for eight years. We both sustained injuries when the bus was toppled. I do not know why driver of the tempo is still at large and he was not able to control the vehicle since I did not notice his speeding tempo. I have yet to come out from the shock as I was stuck between the steering and driver’s seat for a while. Passersby rescued me by pulling the seat”.