By IANS
New Delhi : A woman and a businessman were killed Wednesday in two separate road accidents involving Blueline buses, taking the toll of the privately operated fleet to seven this year.
Krishan Lal Verma, 45, who runs a printing press, was crushed under the wheels of a Blueline bus plying on Route No. 391 between Shahdara and Noida around 2.30 p.m.
Verma was getting down from the bus, but slipped and came under the wheels when its driver Babban suddenly released the brake. Verma was rushed to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
The police have arrested Babban and impounded the bus.
Earlier in the day, a 35-year-old woman was critically injured in the similar manner, when she got down from the bus from the rear door, slipped and came under the wheels of the bus. Late in the evening, she succumbed to her injuries on head, torso and legs.
The accident occurred in the morning when Poonam got down from the Blueline bus, plying on Route No. 108 between Hari Nagar and Nehru Vihar, close to Mayapuri Chowk in west Delhi.
The police said she was admitted to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital but could not be saved.
According to the police, Poonam was working in a factory near Mayapuri and is survived by husband and two children.
“We have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver and a search is on to arrest him. The owner of the bus has been called for questioning,” said a police official.
The 4,000-odd Blueline buses, a crucial part of Delhi’s public transport system, have earned public ire for the recklessness of its drivers and owners but officials say they are helpless to check the menace.
In 2007, Blueline buses had claimed 120 lives.