Mumbai BEST bus crash: Death toll rises to 6; 43 others injured
Mumbai (PTI): The death toll in the BEST bus accident in Mumbai has gone up to six with three more persons succumbing to their injuries, officials said on Tuesday.
As many as 43 other persons were injured, as against initial reports of 22, in the incident which took place in Kurla (West) area at around 9.30 pm on Monday, they said.
Sharing details with the media after more than five hours of the accident, BEST said "as per the initial information, the driver lost control of the bus".
Further commenting on the accident, in which several vehicles were dragged or damaged along the way, the transport body said the bus "speed accelerated" after the driver lost control over the wheels.
The bus driver, Sanjay More, has been detained, as per officials.
Three persons were brought dead from the crash site to nearby Bhabha Hospital, officials said on Monday night.
A civic official on Tuesday said the death toll has gone up to six.
The driver of the BEST bus lost control over the wheels on route A322 while plying from Kurla station to Sakinaka. As a result, the bus dashed into pedestrians as well as some vehicles, according to officials.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking's bus, after ploughing through pedestrians and vehicles, entered into a residential society, Buddha Colony, and came to a halt, they said.
The bus was a 12-metre long electric vehicle manufactured by Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech and it had been taken by BEST on wet lease, an official earlier said.
The Mumbai police have shut the SG Barve Marg, connecting to Kurla station, for traffic movement.
As a result, BEST is operating buses on as many as 10 routes from other nearby locations instead of plying to Kurla station, an official from the transport body said.
Barve road is one of the busiest routes connecting to Kurla station.
Scores of passengers take buses to reach the Bandra-Kurla Complex and other locations from Kurla bus stand located on Barve road.
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No need for guv: DMK leader Kanimozhi
Chennai (PTI): Senior DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday reiterated her party’s opposition to the office of the governor amid uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu after a fractured election mandate.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Kanimozhi emphasised that the DMK’s demand for the abolition of the governor’s post remained unchanged, especially as questions arise over constitutional propriety during the current political transition.
"Our position that we do not need a governor at all is something the DMK has never changed at any point in time," she said.
When asked about the governor’s actions following the election results—particularly the delay in inviting the leading party to form the government—Kanimozhi pointed to what she described as the "inherent friction" between the office of the governor and the political interests of the state.
She said the current situation "raises a lot of questions" and requires introspection regarding constitutional procedures.
Kanimozhi described the election results as lacking a "clear mandate", which she identified as the primary reason for the prevailing political uncertainty in the state.
"What the people decide is supreme," she said, adding that while the mandate was not decisive, it must be respected.
The Thoothukudi MP attributed the ongoing delays and "many confusions" to the absence of a decisive majority for any single party.
She firmly dismissed rumours about the DMK potentially supporting the AIADMK from outside to help stabilise the government.
She described such reports as mere "speculation" and "rumours".
"We can’t be responding to every rumour," she said, declining to comment on the AIADMK’s claims regarding its numbers to form the government.
The political situation in Tamil Nadu remains fluid as stakeholders await the governor’s next constitutional step in an Assembly where no party has secured a clear majority.
The DMK and AIADMK—both of which suffered significant losses to the TVK—are reportedly exploring tactical manoeuvres to navigate the hung Assembly.
The TVK, with 108 seats and the support of Congress’s five MLAs, is still short of the majority mark. The DMK and AIADMK secured 59 and 47 seats, respectively.
