Brake failure leaves 3 dead
Bus plunges off cliff
A REPORT on how a bus driver fought to keep his bus on the road, and most importantly to save the lives of his passengers, was published in The Fiji Times on July 8, 1979.
It was reported that Shiu Prasad, a driver for Tebara Transport, was thankful he was still alive after that terrifying experience.
The bus he was driving plunged off a cliff, and he battered the windscreen with his bare hands so that people could scramble out of the wreck.
“One turn of the wheel could either save us or destroy us,” Mr Prasad, 39, of Naduru Rd, Nausori said from his hospital bed.
The bus he was driving had plunged 18 metres (60 ft) off a steep hill at Nabukaluka, off the SawaniSerea Rd, killing three people.
It was reported that Maria Likudrau, 8, and Miki Maikirogocola, 45 died immediately, while Seveci Likudrau died in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.
It was also reported that about a dozen other people were admitted to hospital but were in satisfactory condition, according to the Medical Superintendent Dr Champaklal Rathod.
Several passengers were sent home after treatment.
“Everything was going smoothly until someone rang the bell to get off,” Mr Prasad said.
“We were going down a slope and I put the brakes on to stop and nothing happened.
“I shouted at them to keep calm, that I would do my best to stop the bus.
“Most of the passengers stayed in their seats, but a few jumped out of the windows as we sped along.
“I think about five of them jumped from the windows and I think those are the ones who were hurt the most,” he said.
The speeding bus was coming up fast to a U-bend which curled to the right. There was one alternativeto stop the bus by ramming it into the wall of the Earth on the right.
“But if I did that, we could have turned over because of the speed we were going and fall over the abyss on my left.
“A lot of people would be killed that way,” he said.
“So, I tried to take the bend.
“But the bus failed to respond and kept on moving straight ahead, off the road and down the steep hill.
“There was no way that the people could get out. The windscreen was in front of me, so I smashed windscreens,
“I then went to a forestry station nearby and called the police, ambulance and my office.”
Mr Prasad did not know what happened next because he fainted.
We were going down a slope and I put the brakes on to stop and nothing happened – Shiu Prasad