Among Mumbai Bus Crash Victims, Teen Returning Home, Nurse Going To Work

Among those mowed down by a killer bus in Mumbai’s Kurla last night was a 19-year-old, who was returning home after her first day in office. Afrin Shah started her first job yesterday. On her way back, she did not find a rickshaw and called her father Abdul Salim. Mr Salim asked her to walk to Kurla station. Shortly after, Mr Salim got another phone call, asking him to rush to the hospital. There, he found Afrin’s body.

While Afrin was returning from work, 55-year-old nurse Kannis Ansari was on her way to a hospital for the night shift when the chilling accident struck. She reached another hospital, dead. 

Six people died and 43 others were injured when a BEST bus lost control on the crowded SG Barve Marg and hit pedestrians and vehicles. Besides Afrin and Kannis, the other victims include Anam Sheikh, Shivam Kashyap, Vijay Gaikwad and Faruq Chaudhari.

The bus eventually entered a residential society and came to a halt. Experts have inspected the vehicle and their report would confirm if a mechanical fault, such as brake failure, led to the crash.

BEST or Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport, has said that initial information suggests that the driver “lost control of the bus”. The driver, Sanjay More, has been taken into custody and faces multiple charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, police have said.

The SG Barve Road, named after the prominent Congress leader, is one of the busiest routes connecting to Kurla station. Scores of passengers take the route daily to board trains or buses to their workplaces in different areas of the Maximum City. The timing of the accident, during which many people were heading home after a long day, compounded the casualties.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis has expressed his condolences and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the victims’ families. He has also that the authorities will pay for the treatment of those injured in the killer crash.