- Wednesday, January 15, 2025
A public transport bus in Mumbai hit 22 vehicles and many pedestrians before coming to a halt on Monday night
By: Shajil Kumar
POLICE have arrested the driver of a public transport bus involved in an accident in Mumbai, which claimed seven lives and left 42 others injured, and booked him for ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’, officials said on Tuesday.
As many as 22 vehicles were damaged in the incident which took place at around 9.30 pm on Monday on the SG Barve Marg in Kurla (West), they said.
The bus operated by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking hit several vehicles and pedestrians following which the driver, identified as Sanjay More, was detained.
An official on Tuesday said the driver has been placed under arrest and will be produced in a court here.
The injured were undergoing treatment in various medical facilities, the official said, adding the condition of some of them was critical.
The injured included four police personnel, who were on duty at the time of the incident. Their condition was stable, he said.
Locals had caught the bus driver immediately after the accident and the police subsequently took him into custody, he said.
He was taken to a hospital for a medical test. His blood samples were also collected to examine whether he was under the influence of alcohol, the official said.
The police have registered a case against the bus driver under sections 105 (punishment for culpable homicide that does not amount to murder) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, he said.
A Mumbai court on Tuesday remanded the driver to police custody till December 21.
Police suspect the driver lost control due to brake failure, but it is yet to be ascertained by experts, the official said.
In details shared with the media, BEST said “as per the initial information, the driver lost control of the bus”.
The bus, after ploughing through pedestrians and vehicles in Kurla (West), entered into a residential society, Buddha Colony, and came to a halt, officials said on Monday.
Kurla resident Zaid Ahmed said he was leaving his house to go to the railway station when he heard a loud noise.
“I ran to the spot and saw a BEST bus had hit pedestrians, other vehicles, including an autorickshaw and three cars. I saw some dead bodies in front of my eyes,” he said.
The driver was speeding and the bus swerved for about 200 metres before it dashed into multiple vehicles on the road, the 26-year-old local resident said.
“We rescued passengers from the autorickshaw and took them to Bhabha Hospital in another three-wheeler. My friends also helped in providing relief to the injured,” Ahmed recounted.
Other eyewitnesses said the bus, which was plying on route number 332 from Kurla to Andheri, also rammed into a police vehicle.
The bus was a 12-metre long electric vehicle manufactured by Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech and it had been taken by BEST on wet lease, an official earlier said. (PTI)
