TNSTC driver dies at wheel in Coimbatore; out-of-control bus kills one, injures two

A TNSTC driver died of suspected cardiac arrest while he was behind the wheel on the busy Palakkad Road in Coimbatore on Wednesday (October 21). The out-of-control vehicle ploughed through vehicles, killing one person.

The police said T. Martin (54) of Singanallur collapsed when he was driving a TNSTC bus on route No: 66 (Gandhipuram–Pachapalayam) near Athupalam at 10.50 a.m. The Gandhipuram-bound bus went out of control and ploughed through vehicles plying on the same direction.

Noor Muhammed (46), an autorickshaw driver from Kuniyamuthur, died on the spot after being hit by the bus, which also rammed three two-wheelers and a car.

Abbas of Kuniyamuthur, who was sitting on a two-wheeler on the side of the road, and a woman passenger of the bus, who fell off the footboard in the impact of the accident, suffered injuries. 

The police said the bus, with about 50 passengers, came to a halt after its conductor Parameswaran acted swiftly and applied the brake.

Martin, who was unconscious, and the injured were rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. A doctor examined Martin and declared him dead on arrival.

The Karumbukadai police and traffic police personnel regulated the traffic on the busy road following the accident.

They shifted the vehicles damaged in the accident. The Traffic Investigation Wing, Coimbatore West, has launched an investigation.