Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Oct 17: Riyaz Khan, who hails from Doddamavalli, had survived an accident which happened recently near Nayandahalli on Mysuru Road when trying to avoid potholes on the road. Riyaz can be aptly termed as a man whom even death does not dare to touch, going by the way he had faced a number of dangerous situations in the past and came across unscathed in each of them.

Riyaz Khan had survived the Tsunami scare in 2004. During the terrorist attack on Taj Hotel Mumbai in 2008, Riyaz was there but had escaped from the jaws of death then too. In 2013, Riyaz had walked out of a hotel in Hyderabad, within minutes after which the hotel building had come crashing down, causing 13 deaths. He had escaped from becoming the victim of an air accident during Haj pilgrimage. Riyaz lived on even after a generator placed inside his bedroom exploded, he recollected.

Riyaz is basically a salesman, while his wife, Salma Siddikha, teaches Arabic. He has a daughter, Iman Siddikha. The family comprising the couple and daughter, Iman, had visited Kengeri to get caste certificate. The family which met with an accident when negotiating potholes dotting the road, had somehow survived. He narrowly escaped from becoming an addition to the list of three persons who lost their lies on account of potholes in Bengaluru roads within a matter of ten days. Riyaz, his wife and daughter, escaped with minor injuries in this accident.

Riyaz said he was riding his scooter at about 20 km per hour when escaping from hitting the potholes. "I had already escaped from three potholes on the road that day, but at the fourth, my scooter suddenly fell down. When I fell down, I was taken aback, as heavy vehicles were following me. I could not think of ways to escape from the clutches of death then. Luckily, drivers of heavy vehicles applied brakes after they saw me falling," he explained.

Riyaz confesses that his wife suffered more injuries than him in the accident, and his daughter was crying out of pain inflicted by injuries. "As soon as I fell down, people came to my rescue, and offered water," Khan said, recalling that he had also survived several such accidents in the past.

Riyaz's father, he mentions, who is a driver in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, has never been involved with any accident during the 33 years he has been working there.