Amritsar boy who saved 15 kids to get National Bravery Award
17yearold Karanbeer Singh had rescued these children from a school bus that had plunged into a drain
AMRITSAR/NEW DELHI: Seventeenyear-old Karanbeer Singh from Amritsar, who rescued 15 children from a school bus that had plunged into a drain, will be among the 18 children to receive the National Bravery Awards this year.
The awards, divided into five categories — Bharat Award, Geeta Chopra Award, Sanjay Chopra Award, Bapu Gaidhani Award, and General National Bravery Awards — will be given away by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 24. Karanbeer will receive the Sanjay Chopra award.
A rashly driven school van had fallen into a drain from a bridge at Muhawa village, 35 km from Amritsar, killing seven children on September 20, 2016. The van was taking students back home from DAV Public School, Neshta, when the accident took place five km from the school.
Singh, who was also in the bus and injured, showed great courage and helped other children to come out. “I am very happy to get the award but my heart pains for those whom I could not save,” said Karanbeer, a student of Class 12, who is in Delhi along with his parents Davinder Singh Sandhu and mother Kulwinder Kaur,
Recalling the fateful day, Karanbeer said: “The driver of the bus as speeding. I warned him about the narrow bridge ahead that doesn’t have railings but he didn’t listen. Suddenly the front tyres were in the air and we landed in the drain.”
He added that doors were jammed and he had to smash a window glass to come out and rescue the students.
“It was responsibility and duty to take care of my juniors. I pulled out 15 children. Initially, the driver helped me in the rescue, but he fled after sometime,” said Karanbeer.
“My parents are very excited. The credit goes to them as they taught me the importance of helping each other in adverse circumstances,” he added.
Among the other awardees are 18-year-old Nazia from Uttar Pradesh, who helped local police capture perpetrators of an illegal business of gambling and betting. She will be given the most coveted Bharat Award.
Nazia continued to fight against the miscreants despite facing threats and managed to put an end to the decades-long terror and harassment.