All Niyaz did was work: Victim’s uncle

Niyaz Ahmed, 22, a delivery worker, was killed in a BEST bus accident, leaving his family devastated. Rishabh Gupta, another victim, is critically injured.

MUMBAI: “I don’t know how I will face his parents,” said Rorojale Ahmed, 34, as he placed the body of his nephew into an ambulance at LTMG Hospital, Sion. Ahmed is the uncle of Niyaz Ahmed, 22, the delivery worker killed in the BEST bus accident at Dadar on Monday.

Niyaz Shaikh died in the BEST bus accident in Dadar. (Raju Shinde)

“He was interested in nothing but work,” said Ahmed, struggling to hold back tears. “He never spent on himself. Everything he earned was for his parents and to help get his younger sister get married.”

Niyaz had moved to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh in search of work, shortly after finishing school, six years ago. Like countless young migrants drawn to Mumbai, Niyaz had just one goal – to support his family back home, said his neighbour Barkatullah Ahmed, 47.

Rorojale Ahmed said the young man carried a heavy burden after his father, a labourer in Mumbai, began losing his eyesight. “My brother used to work in the construction industry,” said Ahmed. “Niyaz worked a series of jobs in Mumbai, starting with selling onions and potatoes, assisting tempo drivers, and eventually turning to gig work, which paid better,” he said.

Recently, Niyaz helped his father set up a small general store in their village with the money he earned. With everything becoming costlier, he had begun to work even longer hours. He was delivering orders on his electric scooter when he was hit by the BEST bus.

In the trauma ward of the hospital lies 20-year-old Rishabh Gupta, a second-year BCom student at Kirti College, battling critical head injuries. Gupta is a part-time Instamart delivery worker. His father, Dashrat Gupta, 46, said the young man had become the family’s backbone after he himself became unemployed and struggled with ill health. “He took responsibility for everything,” said Dashrat. Now we have lost everything.”

As investigators piece together the sequence of events in the mishap, those inside the bus recalled the terrifying moments before the crash. Mahesh Doiphode, 50, a BEST inspector in the bus when it crashed, said, “Everything happened in a split second. We shouted at the driver to steer the bus to one side after it went out of control, to minimise the damage.”

Doiphode, also admitted to the hospital with minor injuries, added, “We still don’t know exactly what happened. It all unfolded so quickly. When it crashed, the doors broke open. After we emerged, we were soon taken to hospital. Nothing seemed to register. After we came here, we learnt of the tragedy,” said Doiphode.

The BEST bus driver Vikas Dattaram Padare, 42, too is being treated for minor injuries. However, the other injured – a pedestrian Amit Mhatre, 41; BEST inspector Satish Waghmare, 48; and bus conductor Rajendra Pelekar, 57 – appear to have left the hospital soon after admission.