G.Udayagiri:  A major mishap was averted and passengers had a narrow escape when a bus hit the pavement of a bridge after the driver suffered a cardiac arrest in G.Udayagiri of Odisha's Kandhamal district  on Friday.

The deceased driver, identified as Sana Pradhan (52) collapsed while driving. As per reports, the private passenger bus was heading towards Bhubaneswar from Sarangagada. Sana was driving when at Paburia, just around 3 km from G.Udayagiri, the helper noticed irregularities in his movement. Before he could rush to any action, Sana reportedly had a cardiac arrest and collapsed as a result of which the bus hit the pavement of a bridge and halted.

While none of the passengers were hurt and were immediately rescued, the driver was rushed to the hospital in 108 ambulance. He, however, was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.

Official sources said the exact cause of death will be ascertained after the postmortem and further investigation is underway.