Nilgiris, October 24 — A government bus was trapped and buried under landslide debris near Barliyar in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district early on Saturday, killing its driver, Janagaraj, and injuring the conductor, Kesavan, police said. Mud, rocks and uprooted trees came down on the bus on the Ooty hill road amid heavy rain.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Around 50 passengers who had been travelling on the bus escaped unhurt because they had got off minutes earlier after the vehicle suffered a tyre puncture near the affected stretch. Only the driver and the conductor remained on board when the hillside collapsed, the conductor was reported as saying after his rescue.

Source: Nation Press

Fire and Rescue Services personnel and police from Coonoor and Mettupalayam reached the spot and pulled the conductor out of the debris; he was taken to hospital in Mettupalayam for treatment. Efforts to reach the driver continued for hours under heavy debris, and rescuers later recovered his body. Earlier reports that the driver had been rescued safely were subsequently corrected by rescue personnel.

Source: Tezzbuzz (PTI)

Police identified the driver as Janagaraj, a resident of the Ooty area. The Nilgiris district has been receiving heavy rain, and landslides at several places have disrupted hill roads, officials and reports said. Awaaz Punjab has reported the rain-related school closures in the Nilgiris and Coimbatore separately.