Mumbai bus accident: Eyewitness blames hawker encroachment and unorganized traffic in Bhandup as BEST bus kills four

BEST bus accident in Bhandup killed 4 on Monday. File pic

An eyewitness of the Mumbai bus accident in Bhandup, while briefing about the incident, said, "Encroachment of the sidewalk by hawkers forced pedestrians to step onto the road, leading to the death of four people in the Mumbai bus accident."

During an extremely unfortunate incident, four people, including three women, were killed, and nine others were injured. As per PTI, the deceased and the injured were hit by a BEST bus in Mumbai's Bhandup locality during the late hours of Monday.

Crowded hawker zone and difficult U-turns at Bhandup

The area outside Bhandup railway station is always busy, and the availability of vegetables at lower prices attracts more people, further complicating the situation, the eyewitness said after the accident on Monday evening.

Saimini Mudaliyar, a pharmacist, while talking to the media about the accident, said, "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," as per PTI.

"Within moments of the bus coming to a halt, people started lifting and pushing the stationary vehicle, indicating that several people were trapped underneath," she added.

The pharmacist also asserted that she approached the bus and saw a stream of blood and multiple dead bodies.

While expressing more about the accident in Bhandup, she said that one person's head was smashed, as if the bus had run over it, while another had an injury near the thigh, reported PTI. The accident occurred between 9:35 pm and 9:45 pm, she said, listing out factors that may have led to it.

Saimini, while hinting at the main cause of the accident, said, "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," as per PTI.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Hemaraj Rajput said, "The casualties included pedestrians who had stepped out of their homes and were on their way back."

Second BEST accident in two years

The eyewitness further said that this was the second such accident involving a BEST electric bus after a similar incident in Kurla last year that left nine people dead, and demanded a proper investigation into why innocent citizens were suffering in this manner.

She also said the police should check whether the bus driver, later identified as Santosh Sawant, was inebriated.

All shopkeepers in the busy area downed their shutters immediately after the accident, and a heavy police presence remained at the site till the wee hours.

(With inputs from PTI)