As many as 40 passengers of the MSRTC Udgir-Pune bus had a near death experience who were saved because of a young man's bravado. A young lad named Sudhir Rane saved 40 passengers in the nick of time when a ST bus was about to drown in Ujani river, near Pandharpur on January 12.
According to reports, the incident happened on Solapur-Pune National Highway around 10.30 pm to 11 pm after the bus collided with metal safety girder. The passengers were alerted after they heard a loud noise; when they saw that the driver was unconscious, they panicked.
Sudhir Rane took control of the wheel averting mishap
Rane, at the time, went behind the wheel and took control of the bus relying on his past experience and halted the bus using the handbrake, averting a major accident.
Bus driver suffered heart attack behind the wheel
According to a local report, the bus driver, identified as Govind Suryavanshi, had suffered a heart attack and he fell unconscious and the vehicle's control was lost resulting in the incident. The bus would have fallen into the backwater of the Ujani reservoir, the report stated.
Passengers take the driver to hospital; under treatment
According to the report Rane and other passengers later took the bus driver to a nearby hopsital where he is currently being treated.
