Man crashes car, 10 injured in city

A 48-year-old driver, unaware that his parked four-wheeler was already in gear, froze on the wheel when he turned on the engine and ran into 10 people before the vehicle crashed into a defunct electricity transformer 50 feet away.

A 48-year-old driver, unaware that his parked four-wheeler was already in gear, froze on the wheel when he turned on the engine and ran into 10 people before the vehicle crashed into a defunct electricity transformer 50 feet away.

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The incident occurred at 9.15pm in the Bhatwadi area of Ghatkopar (West) on Friday night. While all the victims, who were rushed to Rajawadi hospital by bystanders, are out of danger, a five-year-old girl sustained severe injuries along with her father. She has been admitted to the critical care unit of a private hospital in Ghatkopar.

The driver of the Zen Estillo, Babban Sakaram Chikne, who runs a spice shop in Asalpha, fled the spot fearing public ire, and was arrested on Saturday morning. He was released on a cash bail of Rs5,000.

“Chikne had parked his car on RB Kadam road in Bhatwadi. When he started the car and stepped on the accelerator, it sped forward at high speed, hit 10 persons and smashed two shops, before it crashed into an electricity box, uprooting it,” said assistant inspector R Gaikwad from Ghatkopar police station. He added that had the car not collided with the electricity box, more people would have been hurt as Chikne did not even apply the brakes.