At least 16 passengers were injured when a BrihanMumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) mini bus met with an accident on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) near Vikhroli early on Saturday morning. The incident occurred at around 10.15 am, when a speeding bike was about to hit the bus and the bus driver swerved the vehicle to save the biker. Police reached the spot and rushed the injured to nearby hospitals for treatment. The driver of the bus was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rash driving.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 10.15 am, near Godrej Company in Vikhroli (east) on the EEH, when the bus, ferrying 30 passengers, was coming from Kannamwar Nagar and heading towards south Mumbai. The driver of the bus, Bashir Ahmed, 40, swerved the vehicle towards right in a bid to save the biker, who was speeding from the flyover, from coming under the wheel.
After the sudden turn, the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the footpath, before colliding into an adjacent wall, said the police. Of the passengers, 16 sustained minor injuries and one woman sustained a serious head injury, who was rushed to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital). All the injured were rushed to the hospitals for medical treatment, including the bus driver.
Subsequently, a case was lodged against the driver, Ahmed, who was booked under relevant sections of the IPC for rash and negligent driving. An official said that the spot punchnama is underway and the police are recording the statements of the injured.
