A reversing bus of Mumbai’s civic-run transport undertaking BEST, crushed four people to death on Monday night, a police official said.
The incident took place around 10 pm outside the busy Bhandup (West) railway station, said Sucheta Utale, Public Relations Officer of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
The dead, all pedestrians, include four women, while nine others were injured and have been admitted to a nearby hospital, the police official informed.
The bus driver, Santosh Ramesh Sawant, 52, had been detained and an FIR was being registered against him, the official added. Bhagwan Bhau Ghare, 47, was on duty as the conductor, BEST PRO said.
Eyewitnesses say it was when the driver was reversing the bus at end point of its route that the accident occurred. The bus involved in the mishap is a wet leased midi bus hired from Olectra Greentech. Under the wet lease model adopted by BEST, contactor or operator bears fuel, driver and maintenance cost of the bus, an official explained.
Onlookers have alleged encroachments on sidewalks by hawkers to have been partly responsible for the tragedy, saying pedestrians are forced to step onto the road, putting them in harm’s way.
Also Read: Fog causes vehicle pileup in Haryana; two dead
The area outside Bhandup railway station is always busy and the availability of vegetables at lower prices attracts more people, further complicating the situation, an eyewitness said after the accident on Monday evening.
“I was standing at a nearby bus stop waiting for my bus when I heard a loud thud. The next moment, I saw people being thrown off and the bus came to a halt a little ahead,” said Saimini Mudaliyar, a pharmacist.
Additionally, buses terminating at Bhandup station find it difficult to execute a U-turn outside the railway station due to hawkers and heavy crowds in the late evenings, she said.
Earlier this year, mini buses, which were being operated on crowded routes connecting Bhandup station in eastern suburbs to slum-dominated areas close to foothills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, were withdrawn from BEST fleet.
However, despite operational constraints like inadequate turning radius, BEST introduced Olectra-made midi buses on routes from Bhandup (West) station, an official said on condition of anonymity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the road accident, saying in a post on X:
"Saddened by the loss of lives due to a mishap in Bhandup, Mumbai. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May those injured recover at the earliest."
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those killed in the accident. “The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the legal heirs of the deceased,” the CM said in a post on X, and described the incident as “extremely unfortunate”.
Mumbai Congress president and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad sought an inquiry into the accident. “This is extremely saddening. Faulty buses, untrained drivers and an administration unwilling to invest in and improve BEST are risking several lives on a daily basis. We demand a thorough inquiry into this incident,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VII) Hemaraj Rajput assured that the probe would examine all angles, including the condition of the vehicle, but said attending to the injured was the police’s priority.
This is the second such accident involving a BEST electric bus after a similar incident in Kurla last year that left nine people dead.
All shopkeepers in the busy area downed their shutters immediately after the accident, and a heavy police presence remained at the site that was cordoned off while a forensic team collected samples from the area.
Follow us
