Two drivers and two conductors of a private city bus and a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus were honoured by City Police Commissioner AA.K. Viswanathanon Friday for their rescue efforts and presence of mind in saving more than 50 lives in the fire that broke out in an office complex on Avanashi Road on Thursday. Mr. Viswanathan appreciated the efforts of the driver and conductor of a private bus BMT Murugan (45) and Nagamanickam (30) respectively and similarly Rajendran (52) and Ravikumar (49), driver and conductor of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation city bus.
The four offloaded passengers and took the buses below the first floor balcony of the building under fire. This enabled those trapped on top to jump onto the roof of the bus and slide down to safety.
Mr. Viswanathan said that saving the lives of the trapped victims in a fire engulfed building had remained the top most priority of the crew.
They had not waited for any permission or clearance from the bus owner in the case of private bus and from the officials in the case of TNSTC bus.
Their actions were selfless and they went ahead with rescue despite knowing that the bus could be damaged.
Smoke
Meanwhile, smoke from the embers triggered false alarms twice on Friday morning and once more in the evening. This resulted in fire tenders rushing to the spot on both the occasions to confirm that there was no fire.
