Four pedestrians were injured when the driver of a private bus lost control of the vehicle and ploughed into a hotel on 2nd Main Road, Vyalikaval, on Saturday afternoon. The bus, which had only a few people on board, was heading towards Dattatreya junction from Malleswaram around 3.10 p.m. when the incident took place.
The driver later claimed it was brake failure. Unable to stop the bus, he ran over a line of vehicles parked on the footpath before ploughing into the hotel even as pedestrians ran helter-skelter. Four people standing outside the hotel were injured.
The bus came to a halt after it hit a stand and tables in the hotel. The police estimate that at least 40 people had a narrow escape.
“Fortunately, there were very few patrons in the hotel. The few customers inside and the staff were able to escape,” said a police officer, adding that four two-wheelers and a car were damaged.
Eyewitnesses handed over the driver, Prateesh, to the police. “The bus driver claims that it was brake failure, and we are investigating this. He did not have a driving licence,” said the Malleswaram traffic police.
Based on the complaint filed by the hotel owner, Rizwan Pasha, the police have booked Prateesh under various sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. “We are waiting for the medical report to ascertain if he was driving under the influence of alcohol,” the police added.
