Bus driver dies of heart attack while driving in Odisha’s Kandhamal, narrow escape for 20 passengers 

A driver of a private bus succumbed to a heart attack while behind the wheel. But before breathing 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 of Kandhamal district.  

According to a source, 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 going towards Bhanjanagar as its next stoppage via Paburia 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 he could reach 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, a 108 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 think heart attack to be the cause of his death but 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.