In Mumbai, CCTV footage from the ill-fated BEST bus that was involved in a deadly accident on Monday showed passengers in a state of panic as the vehicle went out of control. The footage captured passengers, including the driver, desperately trying to escape by jumping out of the shattered windows after the bus collided with several vehicles and pedestrians.
..A tragic #BESTbusaccident took place in #Kurla area of Mumbai. In which 7 people died and more than 30 were injured. See the #horrific video (CCTV) from inside the bus pic.twitter.com/bcZxsAoqqa
— Tariq Khan (@tariqkhansahara) December 11, 2024
The bus, which was traveling from Kurla to Andheri, initially appeared normal with the conductor issuing tickets and passengers seated or standing. However, as the bus lost control, passengers clung to the handlebars and the lights inside flickered. The bus eventually came to a violent stop, and passengers scrambled to jump from the windows.
The bus driver, Sanjay More, 54, was also seen jumping out of a window, taking two backpacks with him. Another CCTV angle showed people rushing to the scene near the Dr. Ambedkar Nagar housing complex in Kurla.
Earlier, surveillance footage from the Kurla area captured the bus ramming into an auto-rickshaw as it swerved off the road, running over pedestrians and other vehicles. Sparks were seen under the bus as bystanders gathered at the accident site.
The BEST bus company suspects that “human error” and “lack of proper training” contributed to the crash. According to a report by the Regional Transport Office (RTO), the driver, who was allegedly inexperienced in handling the automatic transmission bus, may not have received adequate training for the 12-meter-long vehicle. The electric bus had been registered just three months prior, on August 20, 2024, under the name EVEY TRANS and was operated by a Pune-based third-party agency.
Following the incident, More was arrested on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and attempted culpable homicide, along with relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. He is currently in police custody until December 21.
