BEST bus does it yet again Crushes foot of class X girl in the fourth mishap involving undertaking’s vehicle in past 4 months

BEST bus does it yet again

Crushes foot of class X girl in the fourth mishap involving undertaking’s vehicle in past 4 months

In yet another addition to the recent spate of BEST bus mishaps involving school children, class X student Preeti Prajapati fell victim to an accident at Bhandup on Wednesday. The bones in Prajapati’s right foot were crushed as the bus tyre ran over them. This is the fourth such incident in the past four months. A student of IDUBS School in Bhandup, Preeti was chatting with her friends near the Mangataram Petrol Pump bus stop at 12:40pm. Since her school was over for the day, she was returning to her Kanjurmarg home. Eyewitness Nilesh Patil said Preeti was walking on the road near the BEST bus stop as there is no footpath near it. “As she did not notice that the bus was taking a reverse, Preeti lost her balance when her school bag was hit by the bus (no 425). As a result, Preeti fell down and unfortunately, the bus tyre ran over her right foot,” said Patil. ‘‘The conductor or the driver should have checked before taking reverse,’’ Patil added. Preeti, who was rushed to the nearby Mulund Agarwal Hospital, said, ‘‘One moment I fell down and in the next I felt the bus run over my leg. The bus conductor picked me up and took me to the hospital.’’ The BEST authorities rushed Preeti to the nearby hospital in an auto-rickshaw. But she had to be transferred to Sion Hospital later as the Bhandup one did not have facilities for operation,’’ said Patil. Currently, Preeti is recuperating from multiple fractures in her right ankle at Sion Hospital, where a senior orthopaedic said, “We will need to operate on her. Her bones are exposed and completely crushed. It looks difficult to save the foot and we are contemplating amputating it.’’ Blaming the BEST driver’s negligence for Preeti’s grevious injury, her father Srilal said he will lodge a police complaint against him. ‘‘I am afraid that my girl may lose her leg in a year which is important for her academics. I am afraid to think how she will cope with it,’’ added the worried furniture maker from Hanuman Nagar. While promising to pay the medical expense to Preeti’s family, Saiyaji Kokane, the BEST inspector who visited her in the hospital, said, ‘‘An inquiry would be conducted into the incident.’’ Meanwhile, the BEST bus driver, Ramesh Jogdand, was booked under Sections 279 (rash and negligent driving) and 338 (causing serious injuries) of the IPC. ‘‘He will be produced before the local metropolitan court on Thursday,’’ said senior inspector Srirang Nadgauda of the Bhandup police, adding that the police are yet to record Preeti’s statement.