The quick thinking of Srinivas Murthy (33), a tea stall owner from Dandupalya, on Monday helped many passengers get off the bus that was involved in an accident near Hoskote.
Srinivas Murthy, who was just opening his tea shop for the day, saw the bus hitting the divider, falling sideways and then sliding onto the service road.
“I ran to the spot and I could hear the cries of passengers. I could see blood splattered all over. By the time I reached the place, I saw two bodies lying on the road,” Srinivas said.
He immediately called his friends, Manjunath and Ambarish, both private ambulance drivers, and they rushed there within 10 minutes. He then called 108 ambulance service and also the police.
“I tried to break the windows of the bus with a rod, but I could not. I ran back to my stall, grabbed a machete and smashed all the windows to drag out injured passengers.
“I could see diesel leaking from the fuel tank. I then cut off the battery wires just to avoid any fire accident,” a dazed Srinivas narrated.
Initially, two ambulances reached the spot and shifted the injured passengers to hospital. Later, two more ambulances raced to the spot to speed up the rescue efforts. “I saw at least three bodies,” Srinivas said.
