“I did everything I could”: Injured BEST driver recounts fatal Dadar crash

A day after he allegedly lost control of a BEST bus near Plaza Cinema junction in Dadar leaving one person dead and six others injured Vikas Padare remains admitted in Sion hospital grappling not only with his injuries but also emotional traumaSpeaking exclusively to midday from his hospital bed Padare 42 recounted the terrifying moments before the crash ldquoI tried my best to keep the damage to a minimum The vehicle suddenly went out of control and in those few seconds all I could think about was preventing a bigger tragedyrdquoSole breadwinnerAccording to doctors Padarersquos left leg is fractured and he will need six months to recover ldquoHe is the only earning member of our family We are worried about what lies aheadrdquo said the bus driverrsquos wife Aditi ldquoWe were getting by on his meagre monthly salary of Rs 23000 We also have a Rs 18lakh home loanrdquo said AditilsquoI applied all my training and skillrsquoPadare said that when electric BEST buses were introduced drivers were given training that lasted three days ldquoAn accident is an accident I still donrsquot know what was wrong with this particular bus I applied all my training and skills I have been working as a driver even before I joined BEST in 2021rdquo he said adding ldquoI have never even touched any vehicle while driving This is the first time that I have met with an accident I donrsquot even have any existing ailmentsrdquo he statedHospitalised victim to receive Rs 2 lakhBEST Committee Chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao comforts the kin of a victim at Sion hospitalBEST Committee Chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao meanwhile held discussions with the undertakingrsquos administration and facilitated financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for severely injured accident victim Vrishab Gupta on behalf of bus operators EV Trans Pvt Ltd ldquoThe assistance was handed over to Guptarsquos mother during a visit to Sion Hospital Guptarsquos family was assured of all necessary help and supportrdquo said an officialVictim out of dangerVikas Padarersquos wife Aditi daughter Janvi and brotherinlaw Sajah Vasant Agare Janvi recently cleared the SSC exam with 86 per cent and the family celebrated her performance a few days agoVrishab Gupta one of the six accident victims who sustained multiple injuries has been shifted to the male surgical general ward ldquoHe has a head fracture Though he is out of danger he will take a long time to recoverrdquo said Dr Vidya Mahale deputy dean Sion Hospital The other five individuals have either been discharged or left the hospital after opting to be discharged against medical adviceThe runup to the incidentPadare said he had been assigned a total of four trips on Monday ldquoI plied route no 463 between Plaza Cinema and Dharavi depot twice after which I was supposed to do one more round on it and then route no 164 I rested before starting my third round I didnrsquot think I would not complete my duty on Mondayrdquo he saidThe round that proved illfatedPadare said he started the bus at Veer Kotwal Garden and was heading to the first stop at Plaza Cinema ldquoThe moment I kept my foot on the brakes and released the handbrake the bus picked up speed I tried to hit the brakes and pull the handbrake again but the vehicle wasnrsquot stopping at all I tried to apply the brakes while proceeding from Veer Kotwal Garden to Plaza Circle But when I realised that something was definitely wrong with the brakes I just focused on ensuring the least damage to life and propertyrdquoWhy bus was turnedPadare stated that turning the bus instead of letting it proceed dead ahead was the only option ldquoIf I had allowed the bus to ram into whatever lay ahead a lot of people would have been hurt so I turned it in the direction of Sena Bhavan But as soon as I saw a huge crowd on that street I turned the wheel to the right steering the bus towards Dadar TT Circle as there were no vehicles and a crane was parked there The idea was to halt the bus by dashing it into the cranerdquoDeceasedrsquos final journeyThe body of the deceased Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh was released by the hospital on Monday night His uncle Rauz Ali said ldquoWe took his remains to his village in Uttar Pradesh His father has lost most of his vision and his mother canrsquot travel so it was impossible to bring them to Mumbai His last rites will be conducted on Wednesday morningrdquoPolice SpeakThe Shivaji Park police who are investigating the incident said they were yet to record Padarersquos statement ldquoWe have not yet received clearance from the doctors treating him The moment he is declared fit we will go to the hospital and record his statementrdquo a police officer saidInputs by Aishwarya Iyer and Rajendra B Aklekar