CHENNAI: It is an experience MTC bus driver Ganesan is unlikely to forget in a hurry. On Monday, he was at the wheel of M 7E bus proceeding from Ambattur Industrial Estate towards Broadway. The bus was almost at the end of its hour-long journey when the vehicle’s front tyre burst in front of Tamil Nadu Government Dental College opposite Fort railway station in Park Town.
Ganesan lost control of the vehicle and the bus hurtled towards the central median of a railway footbridge and hit the iron pillar. Under the impact, the driver’s seat sank to the level of the wheel. It was 12.16 pm. For the next 30 minutes, Ganesan had a harrowing time as MTC personnel and traffic police tried to pull him out under the gaze of a growing crowd of curious onlookers and media persons.
“The rescue effort was ill-organised, with each person pulling him in a different direction,” an eyewitness said. Ganesan screamed with pain, as both his legs, caught in the mangled front portion of the bus, began to swell. His efforts to extricate himself failed and he lost consciousness.
At 12.35 pm, a call was made to the Fire and Rescue Services and a team arrived from the Esplanade station. With the help of rescue equipment, the team finally managed to dig out the MTC driver from his seat and sent him to Government General Hospital in a ‘108’ ambulance van. Traffic was disrupted for nearly 45 minutes on the arterial road.