Karnataka bus accident: How a young bus driver’s snap decision saved 43 students | Bengaluru News

Chitradurga/Bengaluru: For 25-year-old Sachin, it was supposed to be just another overnight highway drive. Instead, it became the night he stared death in the face.Driver of a private bus carrying students from a college in Bengaluru’s T Dasarahalli to Dandeli, he was cruising along the highway in Chitradurga district in the early hours of Thursday when a sleeper bus overtook him. Nothing seemed amiss. “I saw the bus overtake mine. Everything looked normal,” Sachin recalled. “But within seconds, the scene outside my windscreen turned horrific.”

A container truck suddenly jumped the median and ploughed straight into the sleeper bus that had overtaken him. “Sparks flew, and the bus burst into flames. I slammed the brakes hard and swerved desperately to avoid a direct collision with the sleeper coach and the truck,” he said.Despite his efforts, the front of his bus clipped the burning sleeper coach before veering off the road and landing near a ditch across the highway. The impact shattered the windscreen, leaving Sachin bleeding from a serious head injury. Inside the bus behind him were 43 pre-university students. “Luckily, not a single student in the bus suffered any injury,” said IGP (eastern range) BR Ravikanthe Gowda. Police sources said the accident would have been more gruesome had Sachin got distracted and not acted in the nick of time. After ensuring none of the students were injured, Sachin ran towards the sleeper bus that was rapidly turning into a fireball. Diesel from the ruptured fuel tank had ignited, and screams pierced the night air. Along with a few others who had gathered, he began pulling passengers out through shattered windows. Thick smoke choked the air, and the heat was unbearable. “I think we pulled out seven passengers from the sleeper bus before the raging fire pushed us back. All I could see was fire,” he recounted. Moments later, the bus was completely engulfed. Sachin returned to his bus and alerted his travel agent. The students later continued their journey in another bus — unaware, perhaps, of just how close they had come to disaster. Police, meanwhile, shifted Sachin to a nearby hospital, administered first aid, and recorded his statement on the accident. “I tried my best to control my bus, but it still ended up brushing against the sleeper coach. None of those in my bus suffered injuries.”