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yesterday

Four Dead, Nine Injured After Reversing BEST Bus Hits Commuters Outside Bhandup Station

Police detained the driver pending a technical probe into whether human error or mechanical failure caused the crash.

The preliminary information received by the BMC stated that the bus collided with passengers while it was reversing.
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A BEST electric bus accident outside Mumbai's Bhandup railway station resulted in four fatalities and at least 9 injuries.
A BEST official told Hindustan Times that while Sawant was driving the bus at the time of the accident, conductor Bhagwan Bhau Ghare was also aboard the vehicle.

Overview

  • Police and civic officials said the bus reversed into a queue on Station Road outside Bhandup West station around 10:05 pm, with CCTV footage showing the moment commuters were struck.
  • Authorities confirmed four fatalities and nine injured; three of the dead were women, and the injured were taken to Rajawadi and MT Agarwal hospitals.
  • Driver Santosh Ramesh Sawant, 52, was detained and suspended as an FIR was registered, and investigators ordered a mechanical inspection of the vehicle and recorded eyewitness statements.
  • The vehicle was a 9‑metre Olectra electric midi bus operating on wet lease for BEST on route 606 from the Vikhroli depot, and the undertaking has launched an internal inquiry.
  • Eyewitnesses and police cited severe congestion and hawker encroachment pushing pedestrians onto the road, while the incident drew comparisons to a fatal BEST electric bus crash in Kurla in 2024 and prompted calls for broader scrutiny of wet‑lease practices and driver training; CM Devendra Fadnavis announced Rs 5 lakh ex‑gratia for each deceased family.