Odisha: Driver saves life of 20 passengers before dying of massive heart attack

By Dr Gourang Charan Rout

Phulbani, Oct. 29 : A driver of a private bus in Odisha’s Kandhamal district died of heart attack while behind the wheel. However, seconds before he breathed his last, he managed to save the lives of passengers on board by applying presence of mind.

He dashed the bus against the guard wall of a roadside culvert and the vehicle came to a halt, thus avoiding a major mishap.

The incident has been reported from G Udayagiri in Kandhamal district.

According to reports, like any other day, a private bus named ‘Maalaxmi’ left Saranggada at about 8.30 pm on Friday for its destination Bhubaneswar with over 20 passengers on board. Sana Pradhan was in the driver’s seat.

The bus was proceeding towards Bhanjanagar as its next stoppage via Paburia ghat road. Hardly had it travelled three kilometres from Paburia when Sana drove the vehicle in an unnatural way. Sensing something wrong, the helper of the bus, identified as Kalia, tried to reach out to the driver.

But before the helper reached Sana, the latter dashed the bus against the guard wall of a roadside culvert and the bus came to a halt. Reaching the driver’s seat, Kalia found Sana collapsed in the seat.

Somehow, an  ambulance was contacted and Sana was rushed to nearby Tikabali government hospital. However, the doctors there declared him dead.

When contacted over his mobile phone, Dr Jyotiranjan Jena, medical officer of Tikabali Hospital, said, “He was received dead. We suspect he died of a massive heart attack. However, the post-mortem report can establish the exact cause.”

The passengers thanked the driver for applying presence of mind before succumbing or else the situation would have been a different one.