School bus driver dies saving children stuck in pothole in Mumbai rain

40-year-old school bus driver drowned in Maharashtra’s Palghar on Monday while saving two children who got stuck in a pothole during the heavy rains that lashed most parts of the state.

Prakash Balu Patil, who used to ferry children to and from a Virar school every day, was taking the children back home on Monday when his vehicle got stuck in a drain in Narangi village due to strong rainwater flow. Two children de-boarded the bus and started playing in the rainwater.

While playing, the children got stuck in a pothole. Seeing them, Patil jumped out of his seat and rushed to save them. However, with a heavy flow of water, he lost his balance and drowned.

“When he saw that two of the children were drowning, without a care for himself, he jumped out of his seat and rushed to save the children,” an Arnala police station officer was reported as saying by newspaper mid-day A case of accidental death has been filed at the Arnala police station, he added.

The bus driver’s body was later recovered by firefighters. He is survived by his wife, three children and parents.

Yesterday Mumbai Rain claimed lives of four people.

A 15-year-old boy was among four people killed in Mumbai city and Thane district after heavy rain lashed Mumbai since Sunday evening. The rail and road traffic was disrupted during rush hours, officials reported on Monday. The two men were killed after a tree collapsed near Fashion Street in South Mumbai last evening, while the 18-year-old died after he fell into a manhole near Evershine Nagar in Malad (west). Nagendra Nagarjun, an 18-year-old boy, fell into a manhole near Evershine Nagar in Malad (west) and drowned on Monday morning. He was pulled out and taken to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Kiran Ghaywat, 15, died after a portion of a wall of a sewerage treatment plant at Vadolgaon, near Ulhasnagar in Thane district, collapsed on their house late last night.