Conductor crushed to death under minibus in Tirupur

COIMBATORE: A bus conductor was crushed to death under the wheels of a private minibus while he was sleeping on the ground in front of the vehicle at Tirupur bus stand in the early hours of Thursday.The deceased has been identified as Surya, 23, a temporary bus conductor with the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. Surya had previously been employed as a conductor for a private bus service. Recently, he secured a position as a temporary conductor with TNSTC. Sources said Surya was scheduled to begin his shift on the Thoravalur route at 4 am.He arrived at the bus stand early to ensure that he was on time for duty. He noticed a minibus belonging to his former private employer parked at the stand. Deciding to rest for a few hours before his shift began, Surya spread a cloth on the ground directly in front of the stationary vehicle and fell asleep.Around 3.30am on Thursday, the driver of the private minibus arrived to take the vehicle to the passenger boarding area. Unaware that Surya was sleeping directly in the vehicle's path, the driver moved the bus forward. The heavy wheels of the bus ran over Surya, causing him fatal injuries. He died on the spot.On being alerted, Tirupur South police reached the spot and sent the body for postmortem.Police registered a case and launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the mishap and whether there was any negligence involved.