An alert conductor and passengers averted an accident as the driver of a bus plying in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district suffered a heart attack on Friday. The bus driver, identified as Prabhu, died of a heart attack.

A video, captured by the CCTV camera installed inside the bus, showed that the conductor and the passengers rushed to help the driver, who fainted as he had a heart attack and consequently lost control of the bus. The conductor pulled the emergency brakes in time as the passengers attended to the driver.

Passengers were aboard a private bus plying toward Pudukottai. As the bus was crossing Kanakampatti, Prabhu called the conductor, attempting to signal that he was experiencing extreme chest pain, but before anyone could react, Prabhu fainted.

Seeing that the driver had lost consciousness and had no control over the vehicle any more, the conductor reacted swiftly, bringing the bus to an immediate halt and averted an accident.

Police have launched an investigation into the case. They are examining the CCTV footage obtained from the bus and are also interrogating the conductor and the passengers.

In a similar incident that came to light in November last year, a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) driver passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest while operating a bus near Yeshwantpur. Kiran, 39, was driving the bus from Nelamangala to Yeshwantpur when he suddenly experienced severe chest pain and lost consciousness.