Workers on way to factory jump into canal to save stuck victims

MULLAPADU/KRISHNA: Their actions were nothing

short of heroism

. A group of 7-8 workers, who were on their way to a nearby factory on bicycles for their 6am shift, were rudely shaken out of their early morning routine.

Soon after the

Volvo bus crashed

through the 3-ft high restraining

wall of the bridge

at the break of the dawn, the workers rushed to the slushy riverbed where the bus lay with its front portion buried in the muddy waters.

"The passengers were scared out of their wits and extreme fear was writ large on their faces when I entered the bus. Some slumped to their death in their seats in sleep, probably out of shock. Some critically injured shrieked out loud unable to bear the agonising pain. Some were bleeding profusely and some looked dazed,"

S Ramaiah

recalled. With time running out, he called out for others and alerted locals. With the help of the fellow workers and locals, he managed to bring out five injured passengers from the mangled bus. "The front portion of the bus was smashed and I could see many were trapped there," he said. But the workers were helpless as gas-cutters had to be used later to pull out the passengers.

The area where the bus was fell was strewn with broken glass pieces. "We had to walk through the slush and broken glass to pull the injured. Police arrived a little later," another worker Kistappa said.
A small-time

politician Srinivas Rao

, who was on his way to Hyderabad from Nuzvid in a car, also played his part in rescuing the passengers. In fact, he gave way to the bus which was going at breakneck speed. "I myself was driving at 100-110 km and I assume the bus driver was cruising at 120 km," he said. "At around 5.45 am, the bus overran the bridge divider and plunged through the gap between the two lanes into the canal," he said. Soon after the bus fell in the canal, he rushed to the mishap site.

He rushed five injured passengers in his car to the Nandigama government hospital where they were given first-aid. "I was at the mishap site till 10.45-11 am helping out locals and cops in bringing out the injured persons," he added.