One of the survivors of the horrific Ella bus accident shared his harrowing experience with the media.

“Near a bend in Ella, someone said the brakes were not working. I was sitting on the bonnet, talking with others. The driver said it, and then the conductor laughed. Then those sitting below also laughed.

Someone sitting on the other side also laughed and said not to lie. But when we reached the second bend, the driver shouted again that the brakes had really failed — that’s when we knew it was true,” he recalled.

Meanwhile, the conductor said that even though the brakes had failed, the driver was initially driving carefully and not speeding. However, at one point, the driver attempted to overtake a tipper truck, causing the bus to veer off the road.