In a bizarre ghastly incident, a BrihanMumbai Electricity Supply and Transport’s (BEST) electric bus, driven allegedly by a driver in an inebriated condition, rammed into “20 to 25” vehicles on Monday night, killing at least seven persons and injuring 42 others at Kurla in north-central Mumbai. The mishap took place in a crowded Kurla (west) market at around 9.30 pm when a crowded BEST bus (MH01 EM 8228) was on its way from Kurla railway station to Saki Naka area at Andheri (East) in north Mumbai.
The speeding bus, allegedly driven by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol, lost control, also mowed down pedestrians walking on the street, before crashing into the entrance of Ambedkar Nagar. The bus involved in the mishap was a 12-metre-long electric vehicle (EV) manufactured by Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech and it had been taken by BEST on wet lease.
The police officials said that the vehicles that were damaged in the mishap comprised 22 vehicles, six auto rickshaws, 10 motorcycles, a few cars and a police jeep were damaged in the incident. Seven persons, five of whom have been identified as Shivam Kashyap (18), Kaniz Fatima (55), Afeel Shah (19) and Anam Sheikh (20), were killed, while 43 others sustained injuries. The injured were rushed to nearby Bhabha Hospital and private clinics in the vicinity.
The bus driver Sanjay More, who was arrested immediately after the mishap, has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigations have revealed that the driver lacked skills for driving an electric vehicle. The accused was produced before a city court on Tuesday, which remanded him in police custody till December 21.
“We are investigating the mishap in detail…proper legal procedures are being followed. Medical examination of the driver is being done. The bus would be inspected by the RTO officials,” Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary said. A forensic team visited the site carrying out investigations. Blood samples of the driver have been taken to ascertain if he was under the influence of alcohol.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the driver lost control of the EV and accelerated the bus leading to the accident,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Ganesh Gawade said. On its part, the BEST, which operates as an autonomous body under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and operates more than 3000 buses across the country’s commercial capital, has set up a committee headed by its chief manager (Transport) Ramesh Madavi to investigate the incident.
In a statement released to the media, the BEST said: “In all 49 persons were injured in the incident. Of them, seven persons succumbed to injuries. The injured persons are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Mumbai”. The BEST announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the persons killed in the mishap, while the BMC and the undertaking would bear the expenditure arising of medical treatment meted out to those injured in the mishap.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar and demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of those deceased and anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh for the injured. During its meeting, the delegation expressed its displeasure over the BEST’s decision to hire buses on a wet-lease model, under which a private contractor provides buses, drivers and also looks after maintenance. It called for a review of the decision.