Mangaluru: Food and civil supplies Minister U T Khader donned the role of a Samaritan to help some pilgrims trapped in a car fire here on Friday, January 13.
The Sabarimala pilgrims, natives of Kundagola in Dharwad, were visiting Dharmasthala on their way back from Sabarimala when their vehicle, an Indica car suddenly caught fire when they were passing by Pumpwell-Nantoor stretch in the city. Before the people in the vehicle could realize what was happening, the fire became intense and started spreading.
To their good luck, minister U T Khader who was passing by the same stretch witnessed the incident and immediately rushed to their rescue.
A quick-thinking Khader poured water from the bottles he was carrying to douse the flames and also used some mud to put off the flames. The fire service personnel also rushed to the spot.
Khader not only managed to save the pilgrims but also managed to save their luggage and the ‘prasadam’ from burning. Furthermore, Khader made dinner arrangements for the pilgrims and even gave them money to help them return to Hubballi. He also arranged their return by KSRTC bus.
N S Kareem, Suresh, Rafiq, Joseph, Siraj Kinya, Jabbar and others were accompanying the minister.
