CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday expressed his deepest condolences over the death of a school bus driver who saved the lives of all the students in his bus before he succumbed to a cardiac arrest in Tirupur on Wednesday.
The CM has also announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakhs to the family of the driver.
The deceased Semalaiappan, 49, worked at a private school in Vellakoil as a bus driver.
On Wednesday evening, as he was doing his usual school drop in the evening, he suffered severe chest pains when he neared the old police quarters area.
Not wanting to jeopardize the lives of the children in the bus, Semalaiappan quickly parked the bus on the side of the road before he collapsed and died on the spot.
Expressing deep pain over the good Samaritan's death, CM Stalin in a statement on Friday lauded Semalaiappan's sense of duty and commitment to the safety of the children.
He also said that a solatium amount of Rs 5 lakhs would be given to the deceased's family from the chief minister's general relief fund.