KSRTC bus tragedy: Kochiite recalls his providential escape
KOCHI: It was a narrow escape for Allen Charles, a 32-year-old student who was returning to his home in Panangad, Kochi, on Thursday morning. He boarded the bus, which was 45 minutes late, from Christ University Bengaluru. Allen, who was seated towards the rear, was asleep when the accident took place.
“If the truck had hit the bus on the rear, I would not have been alive now,” recalled Allen, who had gone to Bengaluru for his visa requirements. “I boarded the bus at 9.10 pm and my seat number was 45 on the window side. We all were asleep by 11 pm. It was the loud noise and the impact that shook the bus which made me wake up. At first, we did not know whether it was an accident or a breakdown. When I tried to get up from my seat, the hook of the recliner seat got tangled with the buckle of my shoe and I could not get up. That was when I got to know that it was an accident,” said Allen, who is looking forward to going abroad in the coming months in search of a job.“We got to know the gravity of the accident only after we got off the bus,” said Allen.
It was after the Fire and Rescue Services team arrived at the spot that the rest of the injured passengers were able to get out. Jesmin George, a 26-year-old student from Pathanamthitta, suffered major nose injuries in the accident. “Jesmin was in seat number 33 and he was discharged from a Tirupur hospital after getting the wound dressed. He was referred to a plastic surgeon,” said Allen, who was with Jesmin at the hospital.