Mangalore : A major casualty was averted thanks to the presence of  mind of a bike rider who was passing through the Canara High School Road and sensed foul smell of gas leakage from a parked Maruti Omni and alerted neighbours.

The incident took place on the morning of October 27 Saturday near the Canara High School at Dongerkery. The car belonged to Shanker Prabhu and his family which had parked the car nearby and had visited the house of priest Deen Bhat for a pooja as part of the first death anniversary of Shanker Prabhu’s mother in-law.

The neighbours sensing danger informed Shanker Prabhu who stopped the pooja and rushed to the spot.

Even neighbours switched off electrical appliances as a precautionary measure. Fire service personnel too rushed to the spot and stopped the gas leakage from the LPG cylinder in the van.