BEST Chalo bus
Mumbai: After covering more than 1,000 kilometres on a road trip to Goa and back without incident, the Pal family had almost completed their journey on Monday night. Their destination, their home in Chembur, was barely 15 minutes away when disaster struck at Bhakti Park junction in Wadala. Police constable Macchindar Palve (40), who lodged the FIR, said CCTV footage showed the bus approaching Lodha Junction on Sewree Chembur Road at a high speed around 8.59 pm on Nov 9, resulting in the crash involving a tempo, a Maruti Ertiga and a Hyundai Tucson.
Police said the Ertiga was completely damaged, while the other vehicles suffered damage to their front, rear or sides. A Chalo bus allegedly rammed into vehicles waiting at a traffic signal behind a BEST bus, triggering a chain-reaction collision that left seven people injured and several vehicles mangled.
Among the worst-hit was the car carrying 28-year-old corporate professional Madhu Pal and her elderly parents. Tempo driver Hasrat Ali Shaikh (28) remains in the intensive care unit with severe head injuries and is reportedly drifting in and out of consciousness. Her father, Pranesh Pal (76), a heart patient with multiple medical conditions, and her mother, Shivani Pal (65), were travelling with her when the crash occurred. The fifth victim, Balaji Jadhav (37), suffered a blunt force injury to his left hand and was discharged on Wednesday.
“We were just returning home from a vacation,” said Madhu, who moved to Mumbai from Kolkata with her family barely seven months ago. “The last thing we remember is being trapped inside the car and then waking up in the hospital,” Madhu recalled. for another victim, the battle is far from over Although they are stable and have shifted from Sion Hospital to a private facility. Investigators believe he swerved sharply in an attempt to avoid the collision before crashing into a road divider. He continues to be on ventilator support at Sion Hospital. The family remembers little after the collision. Madhu Pal suffered head and leg injuries and required stitches, while her mother sustained a fractured arm and head injuries. Her father suffered injuries to his head and chest. Remarkably, the family dog that was travelling with them survived the crash.
A police source said that the bus driver told them that he could not understand what had happened. Police have registered an FIR against the Chalo bus driver Dnyaneshwar Laxman Chavan, a Vashi resident, for rash driving and endangering life or personal safety. The police issued a notice to the accused driver and asked him to join the investigation whenever required. His blood samples were collected and they will be sent for medical examination at the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory.