BMTC bus ploughs into 6 vehicles, nine injured

BENGALURU: Nine people including a three-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl sustained severe injuries in a chain of accidents when a BMTC bus driver lost control over the vehicle and rammed into six other vehicles. Brake failure is said to be reason for the mishap.

Among the injured, four are said to be out of danger while the girl has sustained grave injuries and is battling for her life in Nimhans hospital. The injured have been identified as Shivakumar, 40, an auto driver, his wife, Sudha, 32, their son Siddaiah, 3, Shivakumar’s niece Rakshitha, 10, and Anand, 25, an auto driver.

Four others sustained minor injuries in the mishap and they were treated as out patients. Three auto rickshaws, two cars and a bike were damaged in the incident that took place near Dayananda Sagar college in Kumaraswamy Layout on Monday morning.

According to the police, the BMTC bus (route no. 15E) had come from Majestic and its last stop, Kumaraswamy Layout bus station, was just more than a kilometer when the mishap occurred around 11 am. After passing Dayananda Sagar college, the bus went on Vyasaraya Ballal Road and it was supposed to take a left turn towards the bus station. However, the bus driver could not negotiate the turn and went straight ramming into every other vehicle that came in his way.

“After the driver lost control, the bus moved around 200 meters before coming to halt after hitting an auto. Before this, the bus had hit two autos, a Tata Indica car and a Mahindra XUV that were parked by roadside, and a bike. In the first auto that was hit by the bus, Anand, the driver, and his passengers, Manjula and Ranjitha were injured. The driver of another auto, Rajesh, and his passenger Sridhar were also injured. Out of the nine injured, five have been hospitalised and four others sustained minor injuries,” the police said.

Soon after the bus halted, the bus driver, Mahesh and the conductor, abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene, but Mahesh was arrested later on Monday evening.

Locals stage protest
Protests broke out at the spot where the accident took place and police had resort to mild lathi charge to bring the situation under control. Auto drivers, local residents and activists parked a damaged auto in the junction and blocked the Kumaraswamy Layout Main Road and shouted slogans against the BMTC. They demanded that the victims be given suitable compensation.

Traffic came to a standstill for nearly 20 minutes and additional police had to be rushed to the spot.