Kurla bus crash: 'She'd be with us right now, had auto drivers been willing to ferry her home'

Anam Muzzafar Shaikh, the 20-year-old aspiring baker who lost her life on Monday night (right) Arman Ali, a neighbour of Islam Ansari, who was crushed to death in the accident. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Tragedy could have been averted had Anam Muzzafar Shaikh managed to find an autorickshaw willing to ferry her home on Monday night. The 20-year-old resident of Daruwala chawl in Hallow Pul, Kurla, was the first among those who were killed by the out-of-control BEST bus on Monday night, according to her uncle, Abdulla Shaikh. Anam is survived by her mother and elder brother while her father, who is said to have sustained severe head and spinal cord injuries in the mishap, is battling for his life at a private hospital in Kurla.

Relatives and friends of the deceased outside her home at Daruwala chawl in Hallow Pul, Kurla on Tuesday

The young woman, who was taking a baking course, had returned to Kurla from Dadar and was waiting at the station for a rickshaw to take her home. After waiting in vain for nearly 30 minutes, she called her father to pick her up on his bike. Disaster struck when she was riding pillion on her father's bike. "The impact of the accident was so severe that some of her organs spilt onto the road. She died on the spot. It was a horrible sight," said the deceased's aunt, Kamarunisha Shaikh. "So badly mutilated was the body that it was almost impossible to recognise it," she added. Anam's father, Muzzafar, is said to have sustained severe head and spinal cord injuries.

"Her father is a makeup artist, and the family has lived here for nearly 50 years. It's about time the authorities took action against rickshaw drivers who refuse to ferry passengers," she said. The grieving aunt added that the authorities did not even stitch the body properly after the post-portem at Rajawadi Hospital. "The hospital should have handed over the body after stitching it correctly. The vital organs that had spilt on the road were wrapped in plastic and handed over along with her body," she alleged.

‘A thorough gentleman'

Islam Ansari, another Kurla resident who was crushed to death, worked as a driver and was the sole breadwinner of his family. His neighbour Shaikh Nooman Ansari, said, "This horrible accident claimed so many lives. We never imagined a speeding BEST bus would crush innocent people to death. Islam Ansari was a thorough gentleman."

According to the deceased's neighbours, Islam Ansari was a native of Patna district in Bihar and he had been staying in Mumbai for the past few decades. When mid-day team visited his 1BHK home at Bilal chawl in Kurla West, it was locked. Women in neighbouring houses could be heard lamenting their loss. "Before coming to this chawl, Ansari lived in Bandra. Earlier, he lived in the 1BHK home next to the room where he had been staying with his children."

A neighbour, Arman Ali, said, "He had been staying with his four sons here for the past four to five years." mid-day also visited Bismilla House in Kurla West where hundreds of people had gathered to mourn over the loss of 56-year-old Farooq Chaudhary, another victim. His grieving relatives were unable to speak to the media. The overwhelming wave of grief laid bare the sense of loss and heartbreak the community was going through.

MSRTC calls urgent meeting

Raising doubts on the operations of wet leased electric bus fleet, the rattled Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has called an urgent meeting of all its bus providers, including the company whose bus with the BEST undertaking met with an accident on Monday.

The MSRTC has awarded one of the largest e-bus supply contracts for 5,150 electric buses in July 2023, buses under which are still being procured. "A meeting regarding accidents of hired buses has been arranged by the MSRTC chairman. The meeting will discuss about the various modalities, maintenance practices and other issues regarding the electric bus fleet," an official said.

"It is a good move. All public transport officials seem to be getting wary of such buses and increasing incidents now," MSRTC expert Rohit Dhende said.

- Rajendra B. Aklekar