BENGALURU:
In a freak incident on the premises of the Kempegowda International Airport on Sunday morning, a shuttle bus ferrying passengers from the recently launched second terminal to the first rammed into a pole enroute. Twelve passengers, including a toddler, suffered minor injuries, while the front portion of the bus was badly damaged. An FIR was registered against the driver for rash driving. The mangled remains of the shuttle bus which hit a pole enroute Terminal 1
By Sunday night, all passengers, except two, had been discharged from Aster CMI Hospital at Sahakar Nagar. “The two of them will undergo minor surgeries,” said a hospital source. According to a spokesperson of the airport operator, BIAL,
“Around 5am on June 18, a shuttle bus operating between T1 and T2 of KIA collided with a pole near the T2 Arrival exit road, resulting in injuries to 10 people. There were a total of 17 on board (15 passengers and 2 staff) who. The injured were taken to a hospital for immediate medical attention.” Air India SATS Airport Services Ltd (AISATS) operates the shuttle services on contract from BIAL, the spokesperson said.
Will take mitigating measures after probe: BIAL
A source said that 12 of the flyers had arrived by a flight (i5 554) from Kolkata at T2 at 4.25 am. They were on their way to T1 to take buses or cabs home, he explained. “A family of three, including a two-and-ahalf- year-old child had arrived at T1 early in the morning by an Indigo flight. They were at T2 to have a look at the new terminal.
They were returning to T1 when the child and parents were injured in the accident,” another source said. The staff on board were the driver and the helper of AISATS. It was just a month ago that AISATS commenced operation of electric shuttle services between the two terminals.
A source said that of the ten injured, four were given firstaid at the Aster CMI clinic inside the airport and discharged. “As a precautionary measure, six injured were shifted to Aster CMI Hospital at Sahakarnagar. They included the child and the parents and three men.”
They were minor injuries like a cut on the chin or on the hand and four of them were discharged later, the source added. An FIR has been registered at the Devanahalli traffic police station under IPC Sections 279 (rash driving in a public way endangering human life) and 337 (Hurt to any person by a rash act), said a policeman. An airport spokesperson said, “We are working with the (bus) operator to investigate the matter and will take all necessary mitigating measures as per the agreement.”