Coimbatore: A 52-year-old driver of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) died of a heart attack when he was driving the bus from Ooty to Mettupalayam on the Ghat road on Tuesday afternoon. But he managed to stop the vehicle and saved the lives of 50 passengers. Several passengers were injured in the incident and admitted to hospital.
The deceased bus driver was identified as Ramasamy (52), a native of Karungalpalayam in Erode district. The police said that Ramasamy worked with the Erode branch of TNSTC in the Coimbatore division.
According to Mettupalayam police, on Tuesday morning, Ramasamy set out from Ooty at 10.30 am for Erode via Mettupalayam, with conductor Velusamy and around 50 passengers.
He must have felt unwell and managed to steer the bus to the left of the ghat road at Burliar, about 28 km from here, where it hit the rocky face of the mountain, and turned topsy-turvy. He then collapsed on the steering wheel and died on the spot. Around 15 passengers were injured in the incident.
Had Ramasamy not steered the bus to the left of the road, it would have plunged into a 600 ft gorge on the opposite side and a major mishap would have occurred, said police.
The injured were admitted to Mettupalayam government hospital. The police recovered the body of the bus driver and sent it to Mettupalayam government hospital for the mandatory post-mortem. Police have registered a case and further investigations are on.