PHULBANI: Around 50 passengers travelling on a bus had a close brush with a disaster when the vehicle crashed into a pavement in G Udayagiri block in Kandhamal district after the driver suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
Sources said the bus, en route from Sarangagada to Bhubaneswar, had Sana Pradhan (52) at the wheel. As the bus approached Paburia, approximately three kilometres from G Udayagiri, the helper, situated at the rear of the bus, noticed Pradhan in an uncomfortable state while still in the driver’s seat.
Before the helper could reach the driver’s aid, Pradhan reportedly collapsed due to a cardiac arrest, causing the bus to veer off the road and collide with a bridge’s pavement, ultimately coming to a halt. Locals rushed to help passengers evacuate, while the driver was shifted to the Tikabali community health centre (CHC) in an ambulance. However, he was declared brought dead by the doctors there.
Fortunately, none of the passengers was injured in the incident. Upon receiving information, G Udayagiri police reached the scene and arranged for the driver’s postmortem examination. The postmortem report is awaited to ascertain the cause of death, police said, adding, further investigation is on.