Bengaluru: Twenty-eight people, including the driver and conductor, of an Airavat luxury bus who were travelling to Shirdi had a miraculous escape when an age old tree crashed on their vehicle on Margosa Road in Malleswaram on Saturday morning.
Fortunately for the passengers, only the air-conditioning system and four windowpanes were damaged in the incident.
“As the tree fell on the bus, people travelling in a Scorpio jeep, two motorbikes and an autorickshaw next to the bus were saved. The tree was old and its roots had died,” said Mahendra, an eyewitness.
Mr Gopalakrishna Rao and his wife, who stay in the house right next to the accident spot, said, “I was born on this street. The tree was at least 90 years old I think, as I have seen it since I was a child. The road has always had a line of neem trees, hence the name Margosa Road. Many of these trees are old and shake during the rains. We are lucky that it did not fall on our house."
“A crane was brought in to remove the neem tree trunk from the roof of the bus. Later, tree cutters chopped the branches and the trunk to clear the way for traffic,” said Mr Shivram, Deputy Range Forest Officer.
The accident saw traffic piling up on the one-way and festival shoppers were caught in the jam. The traffic was cleared after a one-hour operation.
