Mumbai accident eyewitnesses recount Kurla BEST bus horror: ‘Bodies were lying…’

Witnesses said that the bus, which was operating on route 332 from Kurla to Andheri also collided with a police vehicle.

Chaos unfolded in Mumbai’s Kurla West on Monday night as a BEST electric bus swerved uncontrollably for nearly 200 metres, smashing into vehicles, pedestrians and a police car before crashing into a residential society.

People gather near the wreckage of vehicles after a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking's bus rammed into pedestrians as well as vehicles on a road at Kurla in Mumbai on Monday,(PTI Photo) (PTI)

Zaid Ahmed, a Kurla resident and eyewitness, recalled stepping out of his house to head to the railway station when a deafening noise froze him in his tracks.

“I ran to the spot and saw a BEST bus had hit pedestrians and other vehicles, including an autorickshaw and three cars. I saw some dead bodies in front of my eyes,” he said.

The 26-year-old local resident said the driver was speeding, and the bus swerved for about 200 metres before crashing into multiple vehicles on the road.

“We rescued passengers from the autorickshaw and took them to Bhabha Hospital in another three-wheeler. My friends also helped in providing relief to the injured,” Ahmed recounted.

Zeeshan Ansari, an eyewitness, said "I was standing in front of Royal Sweets shop along with my friends when I saw a bus being driven rashly.

Read: Death toll rises to seven, 42 injured in Kurla BEST bus crash

Zeeshan Ansari, another witness, said that after crashing into multiple vehicles and pedestrians, the bus entered Buddha Colony. He and others rushed to the scene and managed to pull out the bus driver.

“Many people were lying in a pool of blood. A crowd assembled at the spot and started moving the injured to hospital,” Ansari said.

Other witnesses said that the bus, which was operating on route 332 from Kurla to Andheri, also collided with a police vehicle.

The 12-metre-long electric bus manufactured by Olectra had been leased by BEST on a wet lease. According to officials, the private operator supplies the drivers for these buses.

“The bus was just three months old. It was registered on August 20 this year in the name of a company called EVEY Trans,” an official from Tardeo Regional Transport Office (RTO) told PTI.

The death toll in the bus accident has risen to seven, with 42 others injured, officials confirmed on Tuesday.