MUMBAI, January 2: One person was killed and 23 injured when a Roha-bound state transport bus collided head-on with a speeding truck near Sion Circle on the Sion-Trombay road at around 6.15 am on Friday.Such was the severity of the accident that the truck turned turtle and was reduced to a mangled mass of steel. The bus somehow managed to stay upright. The 30-year-old driver of the ST bus, Ramesh Patil, 45-year-old conductor N S Ranawade, and the 20 injured bus passengers were rushed to Sion hospital, while the truck driver was taken to JJ hospital. Luckily, as the accident took place early in the morning, there were very few people on the road, and no passers-by were hurt.
Though the name of the dead person is yet to be ascertained, Sion police informed that the body is believed to be of the truck driver's unnamed young assistant.
Ironically, this major accident has occurred just a day after Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation launched the `Road Safety Drive,' which will be observed till
January 11 in the state.
Casualty Medical Officer at Sion hospital, Dr Sanjeev Kamath, said only five of the injured persons are still in the hospital. The rest of the passengers, including three women, were discharged after receiving minor treatment. ``But two of the injured passengers, Jaywant Majnekar (17) and R Shyamlal (40) are in a serious condition in the emergency ward,'' Dr Kamath said. Though the ST driver Ramesh Patil was not in a condition to speak from the hospital bed, the conductor Ranawade informed: ``It was the truck driver's fault. Our bus had started from Borivli depot early in the morning and was heading to Roha, via Alibag. But after we went beyond Sion Circle at around 6.15 am, we saw that the truck coming from the opposite direction had crossed over the road divider and was speeding towards us.'' Adding that the truck driver must have been sleeping, Ranawade said: ``I can only recall the screeching of brakes and then a loud crash, accompanied by the shattering of the windscreen and
the windows.'' As Ranawade only received minor injuries on his hands and face, he quickly rushed to check the condition of the driver, only to find Patil lying unconscious under the steering wheel.
Fortunately, though, there were only about 25 passengers in the bus. One of the passengers Madhukar Naik (54) said: ``I was sitting in the middle. Our bus was going at a high speed and the collision came as a big jolt as I felt this was the end.''
Madhukar added he lost a lot of blood and fainted, but he kept remembering God. ``When I opened my eyes, I found myself on the hospital bed,'' he commented.
Police added no arrests have been made so far. The ST, meanwhile, has issued a statement saying the truck driver was at fault.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
