Mumbai: A 52-year-old BEST bus conductor died after he got sandwiched between two BEST buses in Andheri West on Thursday afternoon. The deceased, Shekhar Rawate, died after suffering severe injuries in a chain collision involving four buses.The accident took place around 1.15 pm between Ambivali Naka and Rajkumar bus stop on SV Road. DN Nagar police said they were in the process of registering an FIR and had detained drivers and conductors of all four buses to record their statements.An arrest in the case is expected late at night after getting the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the spot to find out which bus driver was responsible for Rawate’s death. All four buses were taken to the bus depot to clear the traffic congestion on SV Road.“We have sought the CCTV footage to find out who was at fault. Prima facie, the mishap occurred after the traffic slowed following the sudden crash of a large tree on the road near Amboli Naka, leading to congestion on SV Road. Three buses operated by wet lease contractor Mateshwari, plying routes 266, 242 and 249, were stranded in a queue because of the blockage. While the buses were stationary, a fourth bus, an electric vehicle operated by another wet lease contractor, PMI, from Oshiwara depot, rammed into them from behind,” said a police officer.DN Nagar police senior inspector Rajendra Machidar said they will register a case against the driver of bus number 3 under the negligence section. “The mishap occurred after a tree fell on the road and four buses were standing one behind the other. The driver of the fourth bus lost control and collided with the third bus. The third bus then hit the second bus, and the second bus collided with the first bus. Afterwards, Rawate, who was the conductor in the first bus, got down to see what had happened. He went between buses number three and four. At that time, the driver of bus number three reversed the vehicle, which led to the conductor being crushed between buses three and four,” said Machinder.The bus drivers and conductors of all four buses were taken to the DN Nagar police to record their statements before registering a first information report (FIR) and arresting one of the accused drivers after getting the CCTV footage of the spot to know the fault of which bus driver cost the life of Rawate. The accused driver will be arrested once the evidence is collected as the drivers of bus 4 and bus 3, between which Rawate was stuck, are blaming each other.All four buses were taken to the bus depot to clear the traffic congestion on SV Road. The panchnama process is on at Cooper Hospital as Rawate’s son and other family members were called. Meanwhile, police late in the evening were recording statements of eyewitnesses and the drivers and conductors who were detained and questioned to find out the exact cause that led to the accident.BEST has constituted an inquiry committee to conduct a detailed probe and recommend remedial and preventive measures. “Rawate, who was working as a conductor on one of the Mateshwari buses, stepped out of his vehicle and was walking between the last two buses at the time of the collision to see what had happened. But one of the buses moved again and hit the conductor,” said BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya, who was at the spot.The impact left Rawate critically injured. He was immediately rushed to Cooper Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Ganacharya said the undertaking should probe to check if there is driver negligence that led to the death. The fourth bus driver was a BEST full-time driver, he added.Preliminary findings suggest the PMI bus driver might have failed to notice Rawate while he was crossing in front of the bus amid the traffic congestion. Police and transport authorities are examining drivers’ statements.
