BEST bus crash: Another man succumbs, toll reaches 8

A 55-year-old man, who was among the several persons injured in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus accident in Kurla area of Mumbai, died on Monday morning, taking the death toll to eight, a civic official said.

The electric bus, hired by the civic-run BEST undertaking on wet-lease basis, ploughed into a crowd and fatally knocked down seven persons and injured 42 others on a crowded road in Kurla area on December 9.

Several vehicles were also damaged in the incident.

One of the injured persons, identified as Fazlu Rehman, died during treatment at the Sion Hospital on Monday morning, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

BEST has set up a five-member committee to investigate the Kurla accident.

Driver Sanjay More (54) is in police custody for alleged reckless driving.

In a statement issued last week, BEST said a committee, headed by Chief Manager (Transport) Ramesh Madavi, will investigate the accident.

It also said that BEST would provide Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives and bear treatment expenses of the injured.

BEST administration has claimed that More received three days' training before he was allowed to drive the electric bus.

RTO officials suspect human error and lack of proper training for driving automatic transmission buses could be the reason behind the accident, among the most horrific involving BEST buses in recent history.