Mumbai accident: Death toll rises to six, 49 injured in Kurla BEST bus crash
The death toll in the tragic BEST bus accident in Mumbai’s Kurla West rose to six, with 49 others sustaining injuries, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
The accident occurred on Monday night when a bus rammed into pedestrians and vehicles along SG Barve Marg, police said.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) bus was heading towards Andheri when it lost control. Over a 100-metre stretch, it collided with 30-40 vehicles before crashing into the RCC column of the Solomon Building, breaking its compound wall, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Sharing details with the media after more than five hours of the accident, the BEST said “as per the initial information, the driver lost control of the bus”.
Further commenting on the accident, in which several vehicles were dragged or damaged along the way, the transport body said the bus “speed accelerated” after the driver lost control over the wheels.
The bus driver, Sanjay More, has been detained, officials said.
Three persons were brought dead from the crash site to nearby Bhabha Hospital, officials said on Monday night. A civic official on Tuesday said the death toll has gone up to six.
The driver of the BEST bus lost control over the wheels on route A322 while plying from Kurla station to Sakinaka. As a result, the bus dashed into pedestrians as well as some vehicles, according to officials.
The BEST undertaking’s bus, after ploughing through pedestrians and vehicles, entered into a residential society, Buddha Colony, and came to a halt, they said.
An official earlier said the bus was a 12-metre-long electric vehicle manufactured by Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech, and BEST had taken it on a wet lease.
The Mumbai Police has shut the SG Barve Marg, connecting to Kurla station, for traffic movement. As a result, the BEST is operating buses on as many as 10 routes from other nearby locations instead of plying to Kurla station, an official from the transport body said.
Barve Road is one of the busiest routes connecting to Kurla station.
Scores of passengers take buses to reach the Bandra-Kurla Complex and other locations from the Kurla bus stand on Barve Road.
Rescue operations were promptly carried out, and the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. Authorities are investigating the incident to determine the exact cause of the accident.