Bus rams traffic island, 2 killed

MUMBAI, June 10: According to police, the bus was speeding through the nearly empty Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg at around 3.45 am, when it rammed into the traffic island at Bhandup-Sonapur junction. It turned on its side and the momentum took it a few score metres from the spot along the road.

Mintunissa Habibulla Khan, a 60-year-old resident of Jarimari Kurla, Andheri, and Vimal Soni (28), who hailed from Siddharth Nagar, Etawah, were declared dead before admission to Mulund General Hospital. Two others, Mujibur Chaudhary and Abdul, have been seriously injured and admitted to the Mulund General Hospital and LTMG Hospital at Sion respectively. Sixteen others, including three children, who were injured were discharged from the hospitals after being administered first-aid.

Police believe the accident occurred due to the negligence of the driver, who ran away from the spot soon after the incident. A search has been launched to trace the driver and further investigations are on. Locals claimed the bus might haveslipped on traces of oil on the road which had been drenched in rain from the previous night. Two motorcycles, which had been tied atop the bus, were also extensively damaged in the accident.