For many students and passengers in the KSRTC bus that fell into Vishnusamudra tank in Belur on Tuesday, the bus windows served a way out from a death trap. They survived as they escaped through the bus windows.
“When the driver lost control of the bus, it slipped into the tank and turned upside down. As it fell into the water, we were in shock and everybody was screaming,” recalled Ashwini, a second year BA student. She was rescued by her brother, Kiran, who was in the same bus.
As the bus fell into the water, several youths managed to came out through the bus windows. “We came out of the bus as it was not completely submerged in water. The rear portion of the bus was above the water-level. We were sitting in last row and it was easy for us to come out of the bus,” said Shankar, another BA student of YDD First Grade College in Belur. He was travelling from Bakravalli to Belur.
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Among the rescued were many high school students. Meghana S.S., a ninth standard student of a private school in Belur, was rescued by the youths. “I was stuck in the bus with water up to my neck. One of the rescuers pulled me out through the window,” she said. She complained of minor injuries in her head and arms. Similarly, her classmates, Chitra, Bharat and Bhanushree, were also rescued.
Radhamani, mother of Bhanushree S.P., said that her daughter survived because of the youths who came to her rescue and the others stuck in the bus. All the rescued have suffered minor injuries. As many as 30 were admitted at the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences and 25 are being treated at the taluk hospital in Belur.
H.F. Suresh, driver of the bus, also suffered minor injuries. Adil Pasha, an eyewitness, said that the driver also tried to rescue some of the passengers stuck in the bus by breaking open the windows.
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He helped a few youths come out through the driver’s door.
However, as the public started gathering in huge numbers at the spot, he escaped and took shelter at the Belur police station.