BEST driver diverts bus to Nair hosp to save passenger, but 46-yr -old dies

Following the passenger’s death, Gamdevi police took the driver’s and conductor’s statements and registered an accidental death report

MUMBAI: While BEST’s wet lease operators frequently come under scrutiny for accidents along crowded thoroughfares or technical glitches, on Saturday a quick-thinking driver and conductor projected a deviation from what has become an anticipated norm. Their attempt to save life was futile, but the duo’s response to the crisis may have partially reinstated people’s faith in the undertaking.

The bus involved in the incident bore the registration number MH-03-CV-5797 and is operated by wet lease company SMTATPL from the Mumbai Central Depot Division

At 7:45 on Saturday, when the Breach Candy-Byculla bound bus (route A-77/33) was reaching Tata Garden on Warden Road, the conductor Dadasaheb Barkade suddenly became aware of an anxious buzz among passengers. One of them, Mrutyunjay Nayak, 46, had suffered seizures, leading other passengers in the crowded bus to summon Barkade for help, said a BEST official.

As the conductor had undergone special training sessions such as CPR and other life saving measures, under the undertaking’s recent drive for drivers and conductors, he immediately checked on Nayak. After finding him unresponsive, he alerted the driver Prashant Sakpale, who understanding the medical emergency, diverted the bus to Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central, with concurrence of other travellers.

“The passenger was unresponsive. Despite all the efforts to save him, he was declared dead at the hospital at 8:30pm before he could get any medical treatment. Other passengers also cooperated and allowed the bus to change route,” said the official.

Nayak, a driver, was on his way to a railway station from where he was planning to take a local train to Badlapur where he resides. One of Nayak’s relatives whom HT spoke to said: “He was very fit and did not have any medical complications. We are quite shocked at the sudden loss.”

The bus involved in the incident bore the registration number MH-03-CV-5797 and is operated by wet lease company SMTATPL from the Mumbai Central Depot Division.

Following the passenger’s death, Gamdevi police took the driver’s and conductor’s statements and registered an accidental death report. Nayak’s body has been kept at the hospital’s mortuary where a post-mortem will be conducted.

“The incident has been recorded as a medical emergency, with no indication in the preliminary report that the passenger’s death was caused by the movement of the bus or any road accident,” said the BEST official.

“It is unfortunate that the passenger lost his life; but commendable of the bus driver and conductor to have diverted the bus to the hospital,” said Trushna Vishwasrao, chairperson of the BEST Committee.

The exact cause of Nayak’s death will be established through the post-mortem examination and other police procedures. The incident comes amid increasing attention on the need for emergency response mechanisms on public transport operators, particularly in a densely populated city such as Mumbai where buses carry thousands of passengers every day.