Praise pours in for ‘Shaji Pappan’

Truck saved from massive fire outbreak

The timely intervention of Shaji Varghese, who is fondly called as ‘Shaji Pappan’ in his village, averted a major fire tragedy at Kodenchery in Kozhikode district on Sunday. The man made his heroic entry when a lorry driver stayed helpless after a huge load of rice straw on the inter-State goods carrier caught fire from an overhead power line by around 12.30 p.m.

Eyewitnesses from the village said Shaji took the vehicle to a nearby ground to save the town area from the impact of a possible explosion and managed to protect the vehicle from being gutted with the support of other rescue volunteers. He drove the vehicle in a zig-zag way to empty maximum quantity of the load and safely managed the situation till the arrival of the Fire and Rescue Services team from the Mukkom station.

“I believe that my previous experiences in handling similar risky situations in my native village and abroad really helped me face the challenge. For over 25 years, I have been working as a heavy vehicle driver in different places,” said Mr. Shaji who came to the spot a few minutes ago to deliver food to his merchant friend. He said he received numerous calls of appreciation from different places and invitations to attend over eight public functions after the successful rescue operation.