Bus driver who saved passengers 'inspired by Bollywood'
A driver who spotted a bomb and threw it out of his New Delhi bus – possibly saving dozens of lives – said he was able to recognise the device from watching Bollywood movies.
“I had only seen it in Hindi movies – a ticking clock wrapped in colourful wires connected to bombs. I never thought I will come across such a thing in real life,” Kuldeep Singh was quoted as saying by The Pioneer newspaper today.
Singh was the driver of the state-run Delhi Transport Corporation bus that was targeted along with two markets in blasts on October 30 that killed 60 people.
A passenger in his 20s refused to buy a ticket and got off, leaving behind a large black bag. When some of the 40 passengers raised an alarm, Singh and the conductor, Budh Prakash, examined it and ordered the bus evacuated.
“Seeing the wires and the clock, I realised it was a bomb. I was about to get down after throwing the bag out of the bus, but could not escape injury as the bomb went off,” Singh was quoted as saying while recovering in a New Delhi hospital.
Seven others were also injured.
When Singh, 30, was brought bleeding into the hospital, he requested the doctors not to tell his wife – eight months pregnant – about his condition, and instead gave numbers only of his neighbours.
“I did what I thought best at the moment. It was only presence of mind which averted a bigger tragedy,” he said.
