BENGALURU: BENGALURU: In an outrageous instance of incompetence and fickle fortune, the conductor of a BMTC electric bus ploughed into pedestrians at a roadside eatery, killing a 26-year-old woman and seriously injuring others near Peenya 2nd Stage bus stop on Friday morning.
Suma, a private bank employee and a native of Hassan, was having breakfast at the eatery. She was so grievously injured that by the time she was taken to a nearby hospital, she had breathed her last.
The rogue bus maimed four other pedestrians, all women, and two of them are said to be in a critical condition. The other two were discharged from hospital after receiving medical aid.
The injured were identified as Pavana, Suneetha, Keerthana and Salma.
The electric bus (KA 51 AK 4170), operating on route number 252/4 from Majestic to Peenya 2nd Stage, was involved in the accident around 8.45am. According to the police, five women were standing near the roadside eatery, when the driver-cum-conductor Ramesh, who was driving the bus, lost control. The vehicle veered sharply to the right and ran over the women, and razed the eatery. Passersby rushed the injured to a nearby hospital, but Suma was declared brought dead.
During questioning, Ramesh told the police that he attempted to move the bus since it was obstructing traffic, when the driver, Dileep, had gone to the washroom. Ramesh said that as two other buses were approaching from behind, he tried to move the bus forward to ease congestion. However, as he had never driven an electric bus earlier, he lost control, which caused him to panic and accidentally press the accelerator, causing the bus to veer off the road and hit the pedestrians.
Following the incident, senior BMTC officials inspected the spot. Peenya Traffic Police arrested Ramesh. A case was registered against the driver and conductor under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the BNS.