BMTC Volvo bus runs amok, kills two

BMTC Volvo bus runs amok, kills two
Deccan Herald

Two persons were killed and 30 injured after a speeding BMTC Volvo bus hit four vehicles in a row before ramming into a bus shelter in front of the Helicopter Division of Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) on the Airport road here on Tuesday afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as B G Srinivas (28), an employee of the Aerospace division of HAL, and motorcyclist Rakesh (22), a private customs house clearing agent, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) M N Reddy said.

The injured have been admitted to HAL, Manipal, and NIMHANS hospitals.


Tension prevailed on the road linking the Whitefield IT hub with the HAL airport and central business district of the City, as hundreds of people gathered on the spot and set the bus afire. Tempers ran high and the mob also set on fire a motorcycle of a police sub-inspector. The crowd was later dispersed by the police.

According to an eyewitness, the bus (Route No 335E) bearing registration number KA 01 F 4208, coming from ITPL and heading towards Majestic, first collided with an autorickshaw after overtaking a bus near the VIP gate of the copter division.

The speeding bus then careened off to the extreme right of the road and hit three motorbikes coming from the opposite direction.

It then hit a tree and rammed into the bus shelter where about 60 employees of HAL were waiting for their pick-up buses around 3:15 pm.

Though the employees ran helter-skelter at the sight of the approaching bus, some of them were caught under the vehicle. As the bus came to a halt, driver John Rose fled the scene, screaming “brake fail”, the eyewitness said. He later surrendered to police, police sources said. Three HAL cranes were pressed into service to lift the bus and pull out the victims.

Narayanaswamy, an HAL employee, who was injured in the accident told Deccan Herald: “I was waiting at the bus shelter for my pick-up bus after my shift ended at 3 pm. The speeding bus from Marathahalli side appeared to have had a brake failure. Before I realised what was happening, I was under the bus with several others.” An unconscious Narayanaswamy was shifted to HAL hospital. He sustained injuries on his head, back and leg.

Road to chaos

All Marathahalli-bound traffic came to a halt on the Airport road leading to a virtual vehicular pile-up.

The traffic was later diverted to Old Madras Road.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Traffic) M A Saleem pacified the angry employees and assured them of necessary steps to prevent such accidents in the future.

At the HAL hospital, the injured were brought in ambulances, cars and autorickshaws. Hundreds of anxious employees who had gathered at the hospital, were seen queuing up to donate blood. A total of 20 have been admitted to HAL hospital. Those who sustained minor injuries were treated as outpatients.

HAL employee Rajendra Kumar has been shifted to NIMHANS hospital with severe head injuries.

The following is the list of the injured admitted to HAL hospital: Inpatients — Preeti, Sharada, Swarnakumar, Gowramma, Saraswatamma, Rama Reddy, Srinivasa, Mohan Kumar, Satish Kumar, Muniratnamma, Rajendra Kumar, Anand Kumar, Ramakrishna, Rajaram, Asha, Babu Ram, Rathna, Venugopal, Shanthamma, and Rajesh.

OPD — Narayanswamy, Thimmakka, Geetha, Pavitra, Nagalakshmi, G K Narasimha Murthy, Satish Kumar and Girish.

Those who wish to donate blood can contact 9844807672.

BRAKES FAILED

Bangalore, dhns: The driver of the killer Volvo, I John Rose, says he went blank as the brakes of the bus failed. “I only remember steering the vehicle towards the right so that it would stop after hitting the compound wall of the helicopter division. But destiny took a different route,” he told Deccan Herald.