'People were thrown off': Hawkers pushed pedestrians onto road before fatal Bhandup bus crash, says eyewitness

Police are probing a reversing-endpoint manoeuvre, crowding near the station and possible technical faults after four pedestrians died.

Encroachment of the sidewalk by hawkers forced pedestrians to step onto the road, leading to the death of four people in a Mumbai bus accident, an eyewitness said. 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.

“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,” said Saimini Mudaliyar, a pharmacist, told 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 said.

Mudaliyar said she also approached the bus and saw a stream of blood and multiple dead bodies.

“One person’s head was smashed, as if the bus had run over it, while another had an injury near the thigh,” she said.

The accident occurred between 9.35 pm and 9.45 pm, she said, listing out factors that may have led to it.

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, she said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VII) Hemaraj Rajput said the casualties included pedestrians who had stepped out of their homes and were on their way back.

The four deceased include three women, he said, adding that 9 injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Mudaliyar said 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.

The accident spot was cordoned off and a forensic team collected samples from the area.

Rajput assured that the probe would examine all angles, including the condition of the vehicle, but said attending to the injured was the police’s priority.