TUMAKURU: A KSRTC bus driver rescued two sisters who were drowning in the Handikunte lake, in Sira taluk on Sunday.
Manjunath, who is attached to the Sira depot, was driving the bus from Nagenahalli towards Sira when the mother of the girls flagged him down and pleaded to rescue her daughters. She told Manjunath that they had slipped into the water when she was washing clothes.
Manjunath immediately parked the bus, got into the lake and pulled out both the girls from the water. The sisters were later taken to the primary health centre at Baragur where they were treated and are out of danger. The girls hail from Handikunte village.
“Around 1.45 pm, when I was passing near Handikunte Gate, a woman came crying and I asked her what happened. She said her two daughters had fallen into the lake as asked to rescue them. Nobody came forward to help, so I parked the bus, got into the water since I know swimming and saved the girls. They had taken in water and had drowned to the lake bed. When my legs touched them, I dived in and pulled them out one by one. We cleared the water from their lungs and took them to the PHC in the bus”, he explained.
Manjunath’s presence of mind and selfless act has come for praise from his seniors and the public. Manjunath, who hails from Sira taluk has been working with KSRTC since 2007.