Indira Devi, one of the survivors in Idukki bus accident, remembers she smelled something burning before the bus plunged into the gorge. She was awake when the accident happened. Indira was seated on the left side of the bus and many of the passengers were asleep. "I couldn't sleep as I felt something was burning. Suddenly, I heard a loud thud. The bus seemed to have rammed into a post, and I was flung to the right as the bus lost control and fell into the gorge. Everybody was screaming," said Indira, who had been admitted to a hospital at Mundakkayam.

She has survived with injuries on her right foot. Indira, who retired from the University of Agriculture, usually signs up for pilgrimage trips along with one of her close relatives. This time, she went alone. Indira and other passengers couldn't move as the bus got stuck in a tree along the slope. All of them were lying one over the other. "All I could hear was screams. I couldn't move. We tried our best to call for help. People were walking on the road, and they saw us. We lay there for almost an hour. It was very difficult to reach the spot where the bus had fallen. They used rope to come to us as it was a steep slope," said Indira.

"We don't know what exactly happened. We have been told the brake failed. The conductor was seated by the side of the driver, she suffered serious wounds to her head, that's what I saw," said Indira who was waiting for her relatives to arrive at the hospital when Onmanorama spoke to her.

Indira, along with other passengers, left for Thanjavur at 3 am on Sunday. They were supposed to return on Monday when the accident happened. Four people were killed and several others were injured as the KSRTC bus fell into a gorge at Pulluppara in Idukki at around 6 am on Monday morning.