T’puram: A 60-year-old schoolbus driver died after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest while driving, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and crash into a closed shop at Muttappalam Junction near Attingal on Tuesday evening. Four students sustained minor injuries in the accident.The deceased is Muralidharan Nair of Koduman, Attingal, who was working as a temporary driver with a private school in Attingal.According to police, as the bus reached Muttappalam Junction, Muralidharan allegedly suffered a cardiac arrest and slumped sideways in the driver’s seat, leaving the vehicle out of control.A female school staff travelling in the bus rushed to the driver’s seat after noticing him collapse, but the bus had already rammed into a closed roadside shop before it could be brought to a halt.Alfhaz, 12, Abaidas, 13 and Adish, 10, suffered minor injuries, while another student, Adish, 12, sustained an injury to a tooth. They were taken to a nearby private hospital.Locals rushed to the spot and took Muralidharan to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.His body has been shifted to the Chirayinkeezhu taluk hospital for autopsy.
