Ratnagiri accident survivors struggle with injuries, loss
Alwin Fernandes, 29, and Phillipa, 25, got married six months ago and were returning after meeting Phillipa’s parents in Goa. While Alwin survived Tuesday’s accident, Phillipa didn’t. Saurabh Joshi & Farhan Shaikh reports.
Alwin Fernandes, 29, and Phillipa, 25, got married six months ago and were returning after meeting Phillipa’s parents in Goa.
While Alwin survived Tuesday’s accident, Phillipa didn’t.
Alwin told HT that he and his wife had gone to Thivim for the first time after their wedding. “We just got married. I am shocked at the turn of events,” said the Santacruz resident, who was too upset to speak further.
Twenty-three-year-old Vashisht Soni, a Mahim Koliwada resident, who sustained fractures on his hand and chest, and spine injuries in the accident, is worried about how he will pay for his medical treatment.
Soni is undergoing treatment at Comfort Nursing Home in Mahim.
Gorakh Soni, his uncle, said: “He earns Rs.4,000 to Rs.5,000 a month and the cost of his treatment will be over a lakh of rupees. We have to arrange for the money for his medicines.”
Soni, an air conditioner and refrigerator repairman, was on his way to Mahim from Mapusa in Goa where he had gone to visit his friend on Sunday.
He lives with his wife, one-year-old twin daughters and ailing father at Mahim Causeway.
Malad-based Sarmalkar siblings, who were also on the bus, were lucky to survive the accident with a few injuries.
Jayram Sarmalkar, 25, said he and his sister Sarika, 21, had gone to their native place Kudal in south Maharashtra to attend the Mahashivratri function and were on their way back to Mumbai from Goa. “The driver of the bus was drunk and he was driving rashly,” said Jayram.
Jayram said he was awake at the time of the accident and hence managed to save his sister — who was asleep. “The villagers and the police were also helpful,” he added.