23-year-old dies after falling off crowded bus

A 23-year-old man hanging out of a crowded bus in Mumbai was thrown out and seriously injured after the bus scraped past a pickup truck. He later died from his injuries. The driver of the bus has been booked for negligent driving.

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old man who was hanging out of the door of a crowded BEST bus in Vikhroli was thrown out and seriously injured after he hit a pickup truck when the bus scraped past it. He later succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment earlier this week.

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The deceased has been identified as Ramavatar Yadav, a resident of Jharkhand, who had come to explore the city along with his cousins on June 20.

The incident happened on June 27, when Ramavatar Yadav along with cousins Ranjit Yadav and Vikas Yadav started from their home in Dharavi transit camp early in the morning with plans to visit Powai lake.

In his statement to the Park Site police, Ranjit Yadav said he came to Mumbai to his uncle’s place on June 10 after finishing his exams. “Ramavatar Yadav, who is my maternal aunt’s son, joined us a few days later and we planned to stay in the city for a month or so. On the day of the mishap, we had decided to stay out of the house all day,” he told the police.

The trio took a local train up to Kanjurmarg and boarded a BEST bus from outside the railway station around 9.30 am. As the bus was crowded, Ramavtar Yadav was standing by the door of the bus, his cousin said.

“When the bus reached Gandhi Nagar signal, a pickup truck was ahead of the bus. Though there was some space on the other side, the bus driver still drove so close to the truck that Ramavatar was hit by the rear end of the other vehicle, lost his balance and fell off the bus,” Ranjit Yadav said.

Some fellow passengers alerted the conductor who then asked the driver to stop the bus. Ramavatar Yadav’s cousins found him lying unconscious on the road.

“We could see a lot of injuries on the left side of his body which was hit by the truck. The conductor helped us to take him to a nearby hospital from where he was shifted to Sion Hospital,” Ranjit Yadav added.

Ramavatar was admitted to the ICU where he breathed his last on July 3, the police said.

The police have booked the driver of the bus, identified as Bharat Kisan Dhamale, 55, for rash and negligent driving and causing death by negligence.

Confirming the incident, a BEST official said, “The bus was proceeding to Agarkar Chowk, Andheri from Airoli Bus Station. While the bus arrived at the said location, one passenger who was standing on the rear staircase, while leaning out, banged on another vehicle and fell on the road.”