About thirteen persons luckily escaped with minor injuries while an elderly man suffered serious injuries in a road accident, where a rashly driven BEST bus collided with an MSRTC bus in Goregaon (west) on Sunday morning, the police said.
According to the Goregaon police, the accident occurred at around 7.20 am in the Jawahar Nagar area of Goregaon (west) on SV Road in front of the Sardar Patil hall.
The BEST bus (number 261) had set off from the Goregaon bus depot in the Oshiwara area of Jogeshwari (west) and was heading towards the Goregaon railway station. The MSRTC bus with over 30 passengers on board was moving from Borivali to Agrao village near Alibaug.
Senior police inspector, Arun Jadhav of Goregaon police station said, “The BEST driver was driving rashly but he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. When the bus reached near the Sardar Patil hall, he took a sudden right turn and collided with the MSRTC bus. About 10 persons from the MSRTC bus and four others from the BEST bus suffered injuries in the accident.”
Alert citizens called up the police control room after which a police van and jeep was pressed into service. Those injured were rushed to Siddhartha Hospital and a majority of them were discharged soon after. However, a 52-year-old man identified as Mahendra Jaiswal was referred to Nair Hospital for further treatment. Mr Jaiswal was discharged later that evening.
The BEST bus driver, Ramji Yadav (39), has been arrested for rash and negligent driving and for causing grievous hurt under different sections of the Indian Penal Code.