A speeding truck loaded with over a hundred sacks of sugar rammed into a BEST bus at Airoli on the Thane-Belapur road yesterday morning. The rear tyres of the bus are said to have burst immediately after the collision, which made the truck turn turtle.
The accident occurred around 7.15 am. The driver and cleaner of the truck (MH-11-AL 7776) are said to have fled the spot immediately. The five injured passengers from the bus were rushed to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) Hospital in Vashi and the driver to Kalwa’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital.
According to the Rabale MIDC police, who reached the spot after the accident, the truck driver was driving at a high speed. “The heavily-loaded truck was going from Vashi towards Thane. The driver was speeding. He applied the brakes on seeing the BEST bus, coming from the Airoli bus depot and going towards the Thane-Belapur highway, but he lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the bus,” informed a police official, on condition of anonymity.
“Fearing a mob of angry passengers, the truck driver and the cleaner abandoned the truck and ran away. However, we will take the truck to the police station. Considering that there is a huge quantity of commodities in it, the owner will have to come forward to claim it,” added the officer.
The sacks of sugar had fallen out of the upturned truck and were seen lying on the highway yesterday. The BEST bus, on the other hand, was also damaged with a portion of the rear glass pane crushed to pieces. (MD)
