MALLAPURAM: A major catastrophe was prevented due to the ‘quick thinking and timely intervention’ by a Kerala ‘Muezzin’ at Malappuram district’s Chelari area on Friday evening.
According to New18 reports, 30-old Muhammad Ali Chonari, who happened to be working as a ‘Muezzin’ at Panambra Juma Masjid woke up at 2:35 am on hearing a loud noise followed by the smell of gas leakage.
Ali went to the spot with water sensing possibilities of a fire mishap and noticed the LPG tanker truck overturned at a low-lying area with an injured driver, who was later taken to a hospital.
“When I reached the spot, I saw a huge tanker lying overturned with a strong smell of gas, but the driver who hurt his back was trying to turn the ignition off as the gas was leaking fast,” he said, adding that it took some time to turn the ignition off.
When fire authorities arrived on the scene and started the rescue operation, the young ‘Muezzin’ sprung into action.
Making sure everyone’s okay, Ali ran back to the mosque and started alerting people living in its vicinity using the mosque loudspeakers since it only takes one spark to start a fire that could end in disaster.
“Since the power supply was tripped in the area I asked the residents to desist from using any kind of fire or electrical appliances in their houses, including power backup systems,” said Ali.
Investigation of the spot has revealed that the driver of the tanker reportedly lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a curve at Panambra in the National Highway.
Don’t you think, Ali should be rewarded for his exemplary courage and quickly thinking?