“Nothing crossed my mind except the thought to save the children before the school bus went up in flames.”
This was how Madhu Kumar, the driver of the bus which went up in flames, who, along with his assistant and teachers, rescued the children on Monday, described the scene.
The bus belongs to Navkis Educational Centre School, Mysuru.
Madhu Kumar, who is an employee of the school for the last five years, said the three-year-old bus had no problem in the past.
“I left the school with children and four teachers around 3.30 p.m. Around 3:45 p.m., I smelt something burning in the engine. Before I could assess the cause, a fire started from the engine. I tried to douse it using emergency fire extinguisher which did not help. Without wasting time, we managed to evict the children,” he said.
The incident took place around 1.5 km from the school.
