11 students injured, as BEST driver rams into school bus

A BEST bus going on the wrong side of the road collided headon with a school bus resulting in injuries to 11 students and three teachers yesterday The incident took place near Nahur flyover at 8 am when the Marolbound BEST bus no 522 smashed into a vehicle that was plying students from Euro School Airoli while trying to avoid an oncoming auto rickshaw The BEST driver saw the approaching school bus and slammed the brakes but it was too late by then big hit BEST bus no 522 rammed into the school bus in a headon collision yesterday morning near Nahur flyover The BEST driver Shantaram Narayan Niwas 46 sustained a minor knee injury and has been booked by Navghar police The school bus driver Prakash More sustained injuries to his head and torso and was admitted to Heritage hospital Airoli The students were on their way to Euro School Airoli when the mishap occurred School officials said they would foot the hospital bills of the injured students and teachers PicsDatta Kumbhar Siddharth Dhadve According to cops the 11 students in the age group of 3 to 6 and three teachers were hurt in the accident while one female commuter travelling in the BEST bus suffered minor injuries They were first taken to Agarwal hospital Mulund W but later transferred to Fortis hospital in the same area Rutvi Shah injured her head in the collision and will undergo plastic surgery Seven students who escaped with minor cuts and bruises were discharged from the hospital in the afternoon after a thorough checkup while four other students were still undergoing medical treatment The youngest student was three and a half years old and was not injured in the incident in need of care The children from the school bus being taken to a nearby hospital They were later brought to Fortis hospital at Mulundu00a0 Body blow Sanjeev Shah parent of one of the students said ldquoMy daughter Rutvi was sitting on the second seat along with a teacher when the accident took place Her head banged against the back of the seat in front of her which resulted in a deep threeinch long scar on her foreheadrdquo ldquoShe will undergo plastic surgery today after she was administered a few stitches She is now trying to get over the shockrdquo added the Mulund resident Another student Manoj Kumar 5 sustained deep cuts to his forehead and under his left eye The school management has agreed to foot the hospital bills of the students and teachers Out of the three teachers Nishita Sawant 34 and Smitha Gupta 42 suffered minor injuries Both of them were kept under observation in the general ward However Vidhatri Gajrarsquos 26 injuries were serious and she was initially kept under observation in the ICU but later shifted to the general ward Dr S Narayani head of the Fortis hospital said ldquoEleven children and three teachers were brought here Most of them had minor injuries and have been discharged Four are still with us They have been kept under observationrdquo Subinspector Vinod Patil Navghar police station said ldquoWe have booked the BEST bus driver under relevant sections of IPC and further investigations are going on The mishap took place after the BEST bus tried to avoid an auto on the road and then collided with the school busrdquo The BEST driver has been booked under sections 279 rash driving or riding on a public way 337 causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and 338 causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others of IPC However NA Walawalkar PRO BEST said ldquoA case has not been registered yet as both drivers have sustained injuries and are undergoing medical treatment at a hospital Once they are discharged the department will conduct an inquiry and if our driver is found guilty we will take action against himrdquou00a0