Fortunately, the bus had only 10-12 passengers on board when the 70-year-old peepul tree got uprooted and fell on it
Fortunately, the bus had only 10-12 passengers on board when the 70-year-old peepul tree got uprooted and fell on itA 70-year-old peepul tree got uprooted and fell on a BMTC bus on Langford Road, injuring five people last afternoon. The bus had only 10-12 passengers on board as it was lunchtime on Bakri Eid. "I was about to halt the bus at the bus stop, which was just 20 feet away at that time.
I slowed down as there was another bus in front and that's when I heard a loud noise and saw the giant tree falling on the rear end of the bus. I heard screams and people began to rush to get out of the bus," said the bus driver, Subhash Chandra The bus conductor, K Srinivas, said "I was issuing tickets and was in the centre of the bus when the tree fell. Luckily there were only a few passengers."
Sajid Pasha (20) a resident of Kalasipalyam, who was out visiting relatives for Eid suffered head injuries after getting stuck between the seats. He had to be pulled out by bystanders who had rushed to the spot to help the injured. "He has been shifted to NIMHANS but is safe and is responding well to treatment," said an official in the hospital.u00a0 Pasha works as a scooter mechanic in Kalasipalyam.
Two of the injured were taken to Mallya Hospital with minor injuries and the other two were taken to other hospitals in the city.
Treatment expenses
BMTC Managing Director Syed Zameer Pasha, who visited the spot, said, "Such incidents have happened earlier too, but this is a major one. The BBMP should trim dead branches and take care of old trees to avoid such accidents.
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When there is any kind of accident, the treatment expenses of the injured passengers travelling by our bus are taken care of by the BMTC."
"As soon as we got the information, our senior officials rushed to the spot to handle the situation," he added.
MLA N A Harris, who visited the spot, said, "There are so many old trees in the area and the BBMP officials have to take care of such trees by cutting them down to avoid such accidents.
We've called for a meeting with BBMP officials to discuss safeguards. There is a failure in the system. Thank god no one was seriously injured." Officials from the Fire Force, Police, BBMP, BMTC, Home Guard and KSRP were present to take control of the situation at the spot. The police also had to undertake a mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd.
Cable television services around Langford Road were also badly affected as cables tied to the tree were snapped. BBMP officials were unavailable for comment.
Bulge in rootsK Dhanpal (45), who makes a living repairing shoes in the tree's shade, said he had noticed an unnatural bulge in the tree's roots in the morning, but did not think that it would get uprooted.
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"I realised only when the tree fell that its roots were not fixed properly to the ground and that it was slightly bent," said Dhanpal. He had a narrow escape as he had gone to eat when the tree fell at 2 pm.
