Coimbatore: It was truly a terrifying experience for the crew and passengers of a bus enroute to Kalithimbam on Thursday when an uprooted tree on the road blocked the way, leaving the bus stranded inside the dense forests.
Coimbatore: It was truly a terrifying experience for the crew and passengers of a bus enroute to Kalithimbam on Thursday when an uprooted tree on the road blocked the way, leaving the bus stranded inside the dense forests.
The TNSTC bus en route to Thalavadi via Thimbam and Thalamalai came to a standstill after a huge tree was uprooted due to heavy rains, on the way to Kalithimbam, a hamlet situated inside the Sathyamangalam Reserve.
The passengers were stranded in the middle of the dense forest which is home to several wild animals, especially elephants.
As there was no cell phone network in the forest region, the conductor of the bus, Muthukumar along with two passengers Viji and Chandran from Erode and Mavathanam bravely decided to walk through the forest for about 4 kms seeking help.
Braving the rains and the possibility of encountering wild animals, the three men risked their lives and reached the nearest village. They managed to get ahold of forest officials and villagers who drove them toward Kalithimbam with necessary equipment to clear out the debris of the tree.
After a two-hour laboured effort, the debris of the uprooted tree was cleared making way for the bus to resume it's journey. Boopathy, Kani, Santhosh, Muthu, Sundar, Sakthi, Viji along with the forest officials were the bravehearts who volunteered to give their all in the emergency situation that could have turned dangerous for all concerned, considering the forest reserve that they had been stranded in.