Eyewitnesses to the Monday night bus accident near Kurla railway station in Mumbai, in which seven people were killed, said the bus was speeding through a narrow lane filled with street vendors and pedestrians. It is said that the electric BEST bus lost control and hit a pole 100 meters away after hitting dozens of vehicles and many pedestrians.
Bashira Sheikh, who sustained minor injuries in the accident, says, “I and the driver were in a shared autorickshaw with three people. Suddenly the bus hit our car from behind. I was thrown out because I was sitting on the side but the autorickshaw was completely destroyed.”
Eyewitnesses said that the bus driver tried to run away but the passengers caught him and handed him over to the police. About 49 people were injured in the accident. Several cars and autorickshaws were also damaged before the bus stopped after breaking the compound wall of Solomon Residency.
Mohammad Sajid was attending a wedding in the area with his friends and family. “Four of us were walking on the side of the road and the bus hit us from behind. We were thrown in different directions and only met at the hospital,” he said. Among those who were with Sajid, one person is in a serious condition, while another person has minor injuries and one person has survived.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), those injured in the accident have been admitted to various hospitals in the city.
Rahmunisa, another resident of Kurla, was in the market with her parents and daughter. There were four fell off the bus. “We were casually shopping like any other day. We saw a bus coming and waited for it and then this bus came speeding and all this happened,” she says. Rehmunisa suffered minor injuries while her family members were seriously injured.
The accident occurred in front of Anjuman-e-Islam School on SG Barwe Marg in Kurla (West) on Route No. 332 from Kurla Station West to LBS Road.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident and directed the Mumbai Municipality and BEST to bear the medical expenses of the injured.