Sr citizen killed, 4 hurt as minibus rams pavement
Times of India | 10 January 2025
12 Kolkata: A minibus rammed four women, all of them pedestrians and three of them senior citizens, leading to the death of one of them around 11.50 am at the MG Road-Kalakar Street crossing, close to Satyanarayan Park in central Kolkata's Burrabazar. A fifth woman escaped with minor injuries. According to locals and traffic cops on duty at the spot, the minibus was heading towards Howrah from Sealdah and entered MG Road. The driver of the bus plying between Malipanchghara in Howrah and Sealdah suddenly lost control of the vehicle and rammed the pavement. The four women were standing at the corner of the road. They were caught off-guard when the bus took a sudden left and had little time to react.
The deceased woman was identified as Naju Bibi, aged around 60. Although she was alive after the accident, she was declared dead shortly after her arrival at the hospital. Bibi hailed from Sankrail in Howrah.
The other senior citizens injured were Ramala Devi (60) and Nisha Mehta (63). Nikita Kejriwal (31) and Kamala Devi (50) sustained minor injuries.
Mehta, who was at Kolkata Medical College, said she came to Burrabazar to shop but never imagined such an event would occur on the street. She suffered serious injuries to her nose, face, and hand. "The bus lost control suddenly and kept hitting anyone standing by the pavement railing," she said.
Prima facie, cops suspect the brakes of the bus — a Euro VI model that hit the roads barely two months ago, in Nov — might have malfunctioned. The driver was arrested and his role, too, is under scrutiny.
"During questioning, the bus driver claimed that the moment he crossed Satyanarayan Park, he realised the brakes were not working. He then decided to brush past the railing in order to bring the bus to a stop. However, the road was full of pedestrians, and neither he nor the conductor could shout out a warning. We are investigating his claims, and a mechanical test of the bus will show if there was indeed a technical problem that led to the accident," said a senior investigating officer.
The police control room said that a biker was also hit by the bus. However, he escaped unhurt. "The bus's speed was reduced when the bike came under it," an officer said.
Cops are looking into CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses," said an officer.
The incident caused a major traffic jam in the area but the cops managed to normalise the situation soon after.