The driver of the container truck carrying coal, which was involved in a side collision with a Mumbai - bound bus early on Saturday at the Nashik-Aurangabad state highway that led to 12 deaths and injuries to several other passengers, has been arrested by the local police. He was booked under the Indian Penal Code's section 304 (causing death by negligence). The police are verifying the role of a travel agency, Chintamani Travels, in the bus's alleged overloading.
The capacity of the bus was 30 while 55 were onboard it at the time of the accident, 5.15 am on Saturday. The police said that looking at the impact of the accident, there is a possibility of both vehicles having exceeded the speed limit. The police have identified nine bodies out of the 12 bodies, so far.
The collision had hit the truck’s diesel tank which spilt fuel and the front portion of the bus, which was headed from Yavatmal, caught fire immediately due to its heated engine, according to the police. The coal truck did not catch fire and both the vehicles landed at a far distance from each other due to the huge impact, the police said. The collision had occurred near Mirchi Hotel Chowk.
Regarding the driver's arrest, Nashik's Police Commissioner, Jayant Naiknavare, said, “The truck driver had escaped from the site but was arrested by us and has been booked for causing death by negligence. Whereas regarding the driver of the bus, there were two drivers, one was sleeping at the back of the bus while the other one was driving. The one driving has also passed away in the accident, and the one sleeping has sustained few injuries, as he was not driving during the incident, there will be no charges against him.”
According to the police, they have identified a total of nine bodies out of the 12 bodies, by identifying various personal belongings on them like their mobile phones, ornaments, etc. which included the driver of the bus and a three-year-old child, however, the other bodies were charred beyond recognition. “The DNA samples of the remaining three deceased and their relatives who have come forwarded, have been sent for forensics, the results should come by Tuesday evening,” added the Police Commissioner.
Regarding the overload of the bus, the Commissioner added saying, “The total number of passengers in the bus was more than its capacity, there were 51 passengers out of which most of them have been fortunate to have survived the terrible accident. During the investigation, there will be a special team which will probe all the angles like the RTO, the passing, the permits, etc. and if we find negligence on anyone’s part then we will take action.”
The survivors were admitted to civic and private hospitals in Nashik. “We hope that the injured recover at the earliest, they are people from various parts of the state and should be able to reach home soon,” the CP added.
