37 Die As Goa-Mumbai Luxury Bus Runs Off Bridge In Dead Of Night

Eleven of the deceased are from Mumbai. The Mahakali Transport bus was on its way to Mumbai from Goa. This is said to be the biggest fatality on the accident-prone NH-17 route.

Just a little before 3am, driver Santaji Kailash Kirdatt (35) lost control of the bus at a turning before the approach to Jagbudi bridge in Veral village, about 280km from Mumbai.

The bus tore through the railing on the right side of the old, British era stone bridge and crashed upside-down next to Jagbudi river—where the locals regularly cremate their dead.

The surviving passengers reportedly told the police that the driver had begun to drive fast after the bus crossed Kudal in the neighbouring Sindhudurg district.

Ratnagiri superintendent of police Deepak Pandey told mediapersons: “We have arrested the bus driver for rash and negligent driving. He has not suffered any serious injuries. We have sent his blood and urine samples to test if he was driving under the influence of liquor.”

Pandey added, “Kirdatt was going to end his shift a little ahead of the accident spot in Khed, as a second driver was supposed to take over for the remaining journey to Mumbai. Unfortunately, the bus crashed here. The cleaner was killed on the spot.”

Police officials added that this bridge approach is accident-prone because of the slight curve towards the left side (towards Mumbai) of the road. Just two days earlier, a truck had also lost control before the same bridge and hit a hard spot. However, the driver managed to stop the truck before it could hurtle down.

There were heart-rending scenes at the Khed rural hospital and the police station later in the day, as relatives of the deceased began to trickle in. “I have lost my only son, Jose Regan (Fernandes, 28), who was training on a maritime ship in Mumbai. I don’t know what to do now,” cried Maria Fernandes, a widow from Colva, Goa. Relatives of another deceased, Pushpa Chodankar (62) of Andheri (East), said she was returning to Mumbai after visiting an ailing relative in Goa.

There were a total of 52 people in the bus, including the accused driver.

Several locals rushed to the spot after the crash to help free the injured and the dead from the upturned bus. Two local cranes were first pressed into service on the bridge to help lift the bus so as to get the people out. Later, one heavy-duty crane was summoned by the district officials for the rescue work which lasted over four hours.

After the accident, National Highway Authority put up reflectors on the accident spot and began painting the railing. A local, though, said, “These reflectors will be of no use because the problem is with the curve on the road before the bridge.”