Bhubaneshwar: A bus driver's heroic act in the last moments of his life saved the lives of 48 passengers travelling in the bus he was driving in the Kandhamal district on Friday night, media reported.

The driver, Sana Pradhan, started getting chest pain while he was driving an overnight bus to Bhubaneswar from Paburia village in Kandhamal district, a report in the media said.

He realised he wouldn’t be able to drive too long and used his presence of mind to save the passengers.

As he suffered cardiac arrest, he lost control of the bus. Before dying, he rammed the bus to a wall to bring it to an immediate halt instead of leaving the steering wheel unattended and letting it run on the road, police said, according to the report.

The 'Maa Laxmi' private bus typically operates from Sarangarh in Kandhamal to the state capital Bhubaneswar via G Udayagiri during the night, police said.

The driver was rushed to a nearby hospital. However, doctors pronounced him dead, citing cardiac arrest as the cause, said the police.

Police said that the bus later resumed its journey to its destination with a different driver.

After a post-mortem examination, Pradhan's body was handed over to his family. The police have started an investigation into the incident.