A 40-year-old school bus driver drowned in a nullah in Virar yesterday while trying to save two schoolchildren, after the vehicle turned turtle during heavy rains. Prakash Balu Patil, a resident of Virar, had recently bought a van and used to ferry children from home to school and back every day.

On Monday, after students were let off early due to heavy rains, Patil was taking the kids home in his van when it toppled in a nullah near Narangi village due to the strong flow of rainwater.