Bhatkal, Nov 16, 2018: In a tragic incident, the conductor of a Mangaluru-Bhatkal KSRTC Volvo bus lost his life after a huge branch of a tree pierced into the bus on Thursday night at Bhatkal.
The deceased has been identified as Panchaiah Matapathy (35) of Belagavi. The bus which had commenced its journey from Mangaluru had reached Bhatkal at 8.55 pm. After all the passengers alighted, the driver and conductor had food at a hotel and were heading towards the KSRTC depot on Sagar road when tragedy struck.
The driver of the bus veered the vehicle towards one side in a bid to avert collision with an oncoming autorickshaw when the tree branch pierced into the bus and seriously injured Panchaiah who died on the spot.