The duty consciousness of driver Raghunath, of Ballari depot of North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), till his last breath helped save the lives of over 50 passengers travelling in a bus.
Raghunath (45), as usual, was driving a bus on Wednesday evening from Ballari and ferrying passengers to Hagalur-Hosahalli in Sirguppa taluk. Midway, he suffered a massive heart attack near Sirigeri cross. Despite the heart attack, Raghunath managed to slow down the bus and parked it on the road-side before collapsing on the steering wheel.
Unaware of the sudden stoppage of the bus mid-way, passengers were shocked to see the driver collapse and realised that the driver may have suffered some serious health problem. The passengers rushed and stopped another bus heading towards Ballari and shifted Raghunath to VIMS Hospital, where he was declared as brought dead.
