By IANS
New Delhi : A recklessly driven Blueline bus crushed seven people and left eight others battling for lives as it mowed down a group of people here Sunday, sparking mob fury and clashes with the police.
In the worst such disaster caused by the “killer” fleet that has claimed 95 lives this year, the bus ploughed through people waiting to commute or crossing the road at Aali Gaon, three kilometres from the Apollo Hospital, when it tried to overtake a stationary Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) bus from the wrong side.
In no time, seven people including five women, a four-year-old child and a man lay dead on the Mathura Road, some with their heads cracked. Several others were injured, some seriously and bleeding profusely.
There was chaos everywhere. The dead included a four-year-old boy, Toufiq, and a 60-year-old man.
“People were waiting at the traffic signal and crossing the road when the bus hit them, dragging away some a few meters under its wheels,” said Roop Singh, a rickshaw puller who witnessed the horrific 9.30 a.m. disaster.
“The bus was at such a speed that there was no chance for the victims to escape. It happened all of a sudden. In no time many people were running everywhere crying for help,” Roop Singh told IANS at the accident site.
Passers-by and residents rushed to provide help to the wounded, pulling out some of the half crushed bodies from underneath the bus.
“It was very difficult to do that as some bodies were trapped dangerously under the bus,” Roop Singh added. Ambulances rushed the injured to the Apollo and Escort hospitals as well as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The gory scenes sparked violence as hundreds of people, infuriated by the government’s inability to check the Blueline menace, stoned the killer bus that was plying on route 460 and tried twice to set it ablaze.
They also blocked the Mathura Road that links New Delhi with Agra and beyond, crippling traffic for over two hours.
When the police intervened, a 3,000-strong mob including women stoned them fuelling a pitched clash. Outnumbered, the policemen used batons and fired tear gas. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was brought in for crowd control.
The bus driver, Anil Kumar, 40, tried to flee but was caught by passers-by and almost lynched. The police took him into custody and took him to Safdarjang Hospital.
The dead have been identified as Babli, 30, Salma, 50, Beena, 19, Fatlun, 45, Inderman, 60, Chitra, 27, and Toufiq, 4.
The injured are: Neha, 4; Chetan, 52; Guljari, 59; Ramji Lal, 45; Phoolwati, 40; Umesh, 28; Daman, 4, and Radheshyam Verma, 48.
Within hours, the Delhi government ordered an inquiry and Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf contradicted Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat’s claim that the accident happened due to brake failure.
He announced a compensation Rs.100,000 to the families of the victims.
“The bus was absolutely new. The electronic speed governor was tampered with. There was a switch that made the speed governor ineffective. Even if we wanted, we couldn’t have detected it,” Yusuf said.
He said the government was doing its best to tame the Blueline buses.
The minister’s statement had few takers.
“The government is blind,” complained Sadhu Chauhan, a relative of one of the victims, as he spoke to IANS.
“The government always makes false promises of phasing out Blueline buses but does not do so. How many innocents the government wants to get killed by these killer buses?
“Most of these buses are run by a mafia and those close to the government. That is why they are never prosecuted. They give bribes and go scot-free,” Chauhan said.
Police officer Bhagat later said: “Whatever information we have given to media was based on our initial inquiry. Investigation are underway and we will be able to tell the exact cause of the accident.”
The capital has some 4,000 Blueline buses, which form a crucial part of the city’s poor public transport system. Known as the “killer fleet” these privately owned buses killed over 100 people last year.